


The Other Timeline

by Zenobia1



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Also Gaster is back, And Sans is seriously injured from it, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Frisk injured, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Papyrus trying to be a good brother, This is pretty heavy btw, Timelines are a-changing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-24 00:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 61,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23067619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zenobia1/pseuds/Zenobia1
Summary: Something new is happening to the Timeline that Sans doesn't understand. When he suddenly collapses due to the changes, will he make it through alive?
Comments: 15
Kudos: 66





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this timeline, everyone made it to the surface, Gaster is a thing (or is he...?). who has the personality similar to his Glitchtale (if you've seen that) counterpart, so he's not mad or evil/insane, but still acts like a dick and is v moody/serious, and is creator/father of Sans + Papyrus. 
> 
> Be warned it's a heavy story as I'm an angsty person and this is my emotional outlet lol.
> 
> Also this is my first undertale writing so please be nice! :-)

**_Prologue_ **

* * *

It sounds like a waterfall.

Or perhaps indeed, waterfall itself. The familiar sound of gentle gushing water, filling his ears and drowning out the noise of everything else around him.

Except it was not gentle, and the gushing was more like white noise drenching of water, hissing and screaming high pitched in his ears. It was filling his lungs now, leaving him breathless and coughing and choking and gasping—this was definitely not waterfall anymore. He suddenly realised he was awake, but his eyelids weighed heavy. Above all the hissing noises and breathlessness he opened his eyes, and reality set in.

Blackness bled around the edges of his vision, only just about being able to vaguely make out the shapes of the creatures in front of—no, above him. He was lying down.

He noticed the hissing was starting to fade, and instead there was a shrill bleeping sound beginning to fade in—an alarm? Was he still in bed? Perhaps he was late for work.

But the creatures above him began to form into recognisable shapes—alphys, papyrus, toriel, gaster, frisk—

Wait.

He felt himself grow cold. Without thinking, he tried to open his mouth to speak.

“g-“ choking, he gasped and shut his eyes.

_What the hell is going on?_

“Do not try to speak,” a voice said, familiar but one he hasn’t heard for oh so long.

“I do not think he can hear you. He still looks rather dazed,” a delicate voice said, and he pinned it as Toriel.

“He can hear you!! Look! You’ve! Made him panic!!”

Pap was here. He couldn’t see him like this, his bro was innocent and naïve and perhaps a little bit of a bonehead. Surely this was just a weird nightmare, those were pretty common now.

Sans tried to open his eyes again.

Yet there it was, the impossible figure.

“gaster,” he breathed, voice barely audible over the shrill beeping sound that screamed in his ears, “get pap out,” he continued, refusing to look at his brother’s face in fear of what expression was currently etched on it.

“I told you not to speak, Sans,” the voice said, over some complaining sounds originating from papyrus.

He rolled his head to the side, seeing Frisk leading Papyrus out of…wherever they were. Where exactly were they?

The yellow figure of alphys swam into his vision again, and only now he noticed her holding something over his chest. The reptile seemed to notice and attempted to speak to him.

“Umm…j-just try to stay calm! I have everything under control!”

Sans stared at her blearily. Stay calm? He could hardly stay awake. Out of curiosity, he attempted to call upon his magic, perhaps they could provide some answers.

Nothing. Hmm. Gaster Blasters.

His mind jumped back to Gaster.

“you died.” he said blankly, vision beginning to swim. The focus on the creatures surrounding him was fading again.

Somehow, there was an etch of visible concern upon the old man’s face.

“Sans, I have been around for…” he stopped himself, watching Sans’ face for a while before deciding to instead say, “Do you know what has happened to you?”

He shook his head, “been tryin’ to…figure that out myself…y’know,” the sentence seemed to have zapped the energy from him, as the black edges of his vision crawled closer to the centre, his eyelids growing impossibly heavy again.

An alarmed voice rang through his ears, “N-no no no! S-stay awake! You gotta stay awake! Don’t…don’t fall asleep, okay…?”

Gaster’s face greeted the last inkling of his vision.

“The timeline, Sans, what has happened to it?”

Unable to think, the younger skeleton just groaned as he shut his eyes while the blackness took over.

“Answer me, Sans, something has gone wrong with the timeline. You need to stay awake.”

The rest of the almost panicked rambling was drowned out by the noise returning to his ears, the energy sapped from his body as he suddenly became limp, deciding whatever it was would be best to deal with another day. Right now, it was time for another nap…

**_2 days ago_ **

The ache in his side wouldn’t be so much of a problem if he wasn’t trying to understand what the hell was happening with the timelines. Jumping back and forth, stopping and starting, restarting—this was almost normal at this point.

But there was something else. Almost as if things were happening that shouldn’t be, people were here that shouldn’t be, things that didn’t belong here. But it was the same timeline.

Sans growled inwardly and slammed another human book on the art of science shut, wincing as it twinged his side. Humans were so ridiculous. They had no clue alternate timelines existed other than something they had conjured up as ‘science fiction’.

“What exactly are you looking for, Sans?” the much older skeleton said behind him, shuffling through books in a considerably calmer state than Sans was.

“dunno. guess I assumed being on the surface and all we’d have actually learned something from these humans,” he retorted, eying yet another book, “i guessed wrong.”

Gaster huffed, “I’m quite sure we have learned a considerable amount, just perhaps not in the way you were hoping,” he paused, staring closer at the book page, “in fact, this is new.”

Sans glanced up towards him and blinked, “you found something?”

“A new discovery,” Gaster began, bringing said book towards Sans, who was now visibly holding his side. Gaster eyed him wearily.

Sans took the book from him and ignored the glares at his side, speed reading through the page. The old man was probably just trying to get his hopes—

Ah.

“so, they found something we didn’t,” he retorted.

_There has been multiple instances in which several timelines have been seen to have pieces in one other timeline, taking elements from other timelines and using them in a current one, even though these contributing timelines have not failed and still coexist somehow._

“well, that’s new,” Sans agreed, slamming the book shut and tucking it under his arm—audibly hissing and switching arms, “welp, i’m gonna _bone_ up on my facts, cya.”

Gaster’s eyes narrowed, “Something the matter, Sans?”

He snorted, “nah, probably just pulled a funny bone,” he began to head out the door, needing to research on his own…and also to get away from Gaster’s staring. Or perhaps Gaster himself. Something felt…off.

“Very well. I’ll be here if you find anything new,” he offered, deciding whatever predicament he was in wasn’t more important than this incredibly important timeline research. He just hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

* * *

Back at the skelebros house, Sans’ temper was steadily rising through the pain in his side and the constant ramblings from his brother about nothing other than spaghetti.

And having insisted on using a human oven, as it would, in Papyrus’ words, ‘appeal to the humans better nature if spaghetti came from their own oven’, Sans had to stand and watch him each and every time to ensure he didn’t set the thing on fire.

“Did you know humans have 350 different types of pasta!?” Papyrus was yelling, while simultaneously flipping spaghetti in the air as if it was a pancake. Unfortunately, it was also splattering the walls in the process.

“yeah that’s real interesting pap,” Sans retorted, glancing down at the book under his arm.

“Three! Hundred! And! Fifty! So many!! New Pastas!!”

Sans walked over to an empty cabinet and plonked the book down heavily.

“yup. can’t wait to see what you make outta that, bro,” he mindlessly said, speed-reading through this book.

Something felt off. He couldn’t put a bony finger on it, but he knew it was to do with the timelines. He just couldn’t figure out what.

“Sans…where did you put the flour?” Papyrus interrupted his thoughts.

The other skeleton sighed, wincing and nearly falling forward at the rush of pain in his side, “it’s where you left it, bro, i ain’t touched it.”

Papyrus, in his own little world, didn’t notice. “I’ve been thinking, I should make that 400 pastas. I want to learn 400 recipes for making pasta from scratch!”

“cool,” Sans flipped the page. _There has been no evidence that monsterkind can manipulate the timeline._ Yup _. Well, except Flowey, I guess._

“I could…how will I do that…?” Pap seemed suddenly unsure of himself, “I could…merge…the pastas…?”

Sans’ eyes went wide in realisation, stepping back and gritting his teeth.

“shit”

“SANS!” Papyrus bellowed, causing him to wince, “No swearing in our household!” but he paused, and said almost sadly, “Does my cooking really…worry you, that much?”

Sans shook his head, attempting to close the book but hissed through gritted teeth, an agonising wave of pain hitting his side, sending him reeling and clutching onto the counter.

Papyrus noticed this time, “Sans! What’s the matter with you!?” apart from the obvious signs of pain, his brother was showing an odd amount of frustration and tension, something that he was would so rarely portray around him.

Sans growled in frustration, desperate to read into this more. Papyrus had mentioned merging pasta, and this triggered a realisation. A turning point.

But right now, he was in agony and couldn’t move.

“s’not your cooking, paps,” he hissed, suddenly unable to hide an audible cry of anguish as his ribcage suddenly felt like someone had torn into it with a knife.

“I’m not worried about that right now, brother, you don’t look very well,” Papyrus stepped closer, eying his brother tentatively, trying to figure out what to do. “Uh….do I call a doctor…?”

Sans inhaled sharply, “no, no, m’ fine, just…gimme a sec,” he waited for the feeling to pass, whatever it was. Whatever was happening.

But it didn’t pass. With every moment, the pain sent his vision spinning, blurring and swimming. His instincts immediately told him to sit down.

With one hand on the cabinet, Sans stumbled forward and looked for anything that looked remotely like it could be sat on, ideally a chair. But his sight was so blurry, he couldn’t even see the shape of his brother properly.

As another rush of pain tore through him, Sans grunted and fell sideways, crashing into stack of plates and hitting a wall, before finally collapsing to the floor.

“SANS!” his brother yelled in surprise, immediately getting onto the floor and sweeping the shattered plates out the way. “What’s the matter…? What do I do?”

With no reply from the smaller skeleton, Papyrus began to panic, “Uh…uhm…” he got up and raced to the phone on the wall, dialling the first person he could think of.

When there was a reply, Papyrus ran a trail of a panicked words, “G-gaster! It’s—it’s Sans! He’s…just…fainted…?! I don’t know what to—I don’t know!” breathlessly, he turned around while on the phone and watched as his brother suddenly started trembling, “It’s—I—he’s—he’s—he’s—uh—yeah…yeah you’re right, I know I should calm down but I can’t! And now he’s shaking…!? How much? I don’t…know?? You’re coming over? Okay…” he paused to catch his breath, his mind reeling from the pure panic.

Usually when he became like this, it was always Sans that was there at an instant, but now he didn’t have that…who else was there…?

He raced back over to his brother’s side; however, he suddenly noticed a pool of red liquid staining his shirt, which wasn’t there before. The shaking had subsided, leaving only breathless gasps coming from the skeleton, who looked entirely asleep.

Suddenly, the door to the kitchen was thrown open, with none other than Gaster storming in, looking like a skeleton on a mission.

“I have contacted Alphys, she will be arriving momentarily,” Gaster knelt down beside them and tried to hide this horrid sense of dread that was causing a display of emotion; he too noticed the red stains on his shirt. “What were you doing?” he asked calmly, pulling the blue coat off of the small frame, while Papyrus just watched blankly, staring at Gaster’s black coat that was taking up the majority of the immediate floor space.

“I was…we were just…well…he was reading this book…and I was…cooking…?” he gasped, “Spaghetti!” he yelled, jumping up and running to the oven, turning it off. If there was a fire, he knew Sans wouldn’t be too pleased with him. Watching his older brother in such a horrible situation…his stomach churned with anxiety. Nothing this bad had ever happened in such a long…long time, especially just out of the blue.

“It is odd,” Gaster remarked, pulling up the blood-stained shirt and glancing at the large jagged wound across Sans’ ribcage, “as much as it pains me to say it, any other monster would have turned to dust by now. This is quite an injury.”

“An injury?” Papyrus retorted thoughtfully, “You mean…someone attacked him??”

Gaster remained quiet for a second. Sans had only left their lab 20 minutes ago, and had obviously came straight here, seemingly fine as he was watching the younger skeleton make spaghetti while he just read a book. Odd, indeed.

“Perhaps, but perhaps not,” he said cryptically, “The bleeding has stopped. In fact, it looks as if it has stopped for a while,” how intriguing. It was bleeding heavily no less than 2 minutes ago.

At that note, there was a loud crash, before alphys came running into the room, her too looking about as panicked as papyrus, if not a little less.

“I’m here! I-I’m here!” she exclaimed, immediately locking eyes with the cesspool of blood on the floor, and the creature that still had somehow not turned to dust yet, “Uh…”

“You must measure his soul magic,” Gaster said, snapping Alphys out of her thoughts. She was a scientist, not exactly a doctor of biology. But it was the closest the monsters had to a doctor that they could trust, without resorting to help from the humans, which they were not entirely comfortable with yet, especially not with someone like Sans.

“Y-yeah! Hold on,” she knelt by them, pressing something that looked remarkably like a stethoscope to his chest, except for an extra block at the end which displayed the magic readings.

She gulped hard at the results, “U-uh…technically, he shouldn’t be here,” she said quietly, but this didn’t seem to worry Gaster, “I-it’s the lowest I’ve ever seen a monster without them being dust…”

“My thoughts exactly,” Gaster agreed, “this is no normal injury. We are, perhaps, lucky, that his situation is not normal. Take him to my lab, we can heal him from there.”

Alphys blinked, “B-but, he needed to go to ho—”

“I said take him to my lab,” he stated louder, turning to Papyrus who had been unusually quiet, “He was talking about timelines earlier, could that have had anything to do—”

Papyrus was about to mention Sans’ fascination with his book, before suddenly his red scarf was being yanked at.

“the timeline. pap. the timeline.”

Papyrus glanced down at his older brother, who now seemed extremely alert, but his eyes turned to white pinpricks. If his magic was working, he was sure one of his eyes would have been blue at this point.

Gaster pressed, “What about the timeline, Sans?”

“Umm…gaster—” Alphys tried to speak.

“its merging. its merging.”

“What?” Gaster was taken aback; this was something he hadn’t heard before.

“timeline…merging…i….” he sucked in a breath and tried to explain, “you shouldn’t…be here…” two empty eyesockets were staring at Gaster, which unnerved him a little.

“you…shouldn’t…” he let out a shriek of agony, making alphys jump.

“What’s wrong him him!!?” Papyrus shouted a little too loudly.

Gaster glared sternly at Sans, who didn’t even want him here, for some reason.

“W-we have to move him now,” she prompted them, desperate to get moving, an impending sense of doom gnawing at her, panic setting in.

Unfortunately, the information stopped for Gaster, as Sans’ eyes once again rolled back in his head as he started shaking again.

Papyrus was at his wits end, “He’s shaking again! This is what I was saying earlier!”

Alphys inserted something that looked remarkably like the monster equivalent of a syringe into a Sans’ arm, “I-it’s a seizure, b-but it’ll be okay,” she said, hopelessness tainting her optimistic voice.

Before either of them could do anything else, Gaster almost audibly huffed in frustration and secured a tight hold of the shaking skeleton, before they both suddenly disappeared in a puff of black magic.

* * *

_to be continued........_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray. As you can probs tell I'm struggling to write papyrus so if anyone has any advice please do say (i don't like WRITING HIM IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS tho). Hopefully this was ok and I can write more!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans wakes up after his ordeal, only to find his powers are gone. But Gaster is suspicious...

_“W-we have to move him now,” Alphys prompted them, desperate to get moving, an impending sense of doom gnawing at her, panic setting in._

_Unfortunately, the information stopped for Gaster, as Sans’ eyes once again rolled back in his head as he started shaking again._

_Papyrus was at his wits end, “He’s shaking again! This is what I was saying earlier!”_

_Alphys inserted something that looked remarkably like the monster equivalent of a syringe into a Sans’ arm, “I-it’s a seizure, b-but it’ll be okay,” she said, hopelessness tainting her optimistic voice._

_Before either of them could do anything else, Gaster almost audibly huffed in frustration and secured a tight hold of the shaking skeleton, before they both suddenly disappeared in a puff of black magic._

* * *

Upon returning to consciousness again, the last thing Sans expected was for his surrounding to be completely derived with the sound of arguing.

Not like he could understand what was going on, but it was an unexpected thing to wake up to, nonetheless. He decided to play dead and remained to be ‘asleep’, letting his breathing remain slow as to not make those with excellent hearing draw attention to him.

“I-I still think he should be in hospital,” came the annoyed but determined voice of Alphys, “H-he shouldn’t be in your l-lab, right? He’s not a-an experiment, he’s j-just ill,”

_huh. stuttering more than usual. gaster must be putting the fear of god into her._

“That may be so, but I prefer to have him where I can keep an eye on him. Besides, if this timeline he speaks of is affecting him, only I will be able to do something for him. The humans do not understand.”

“I…I guess…”

Now bored, Sans opened a single eye socket and tried to get an idea of his surroundings without moving too much. One or two spikes in his soul rate will trigger the alarm. He was definitely attached to a number of machines, a myriad of wires trailing from his body. Well, at least he was safe. Sort of.

“Ah, Sans.”

crap.

“How are you feeling?” the monotonous voice of Gaster asked him, striding over with his ridiculously long cloak…that shouldn’t even exist.

“just tired, G. better question is, how are you here?”

The tall man looked taken aback by the question, but settled to find more answers “I seem to remember you saying that I should be dead.”

Sans could see Alphys squirming uncomfortably behind him. “well, yeah. you shouldn’t exist. shattered. remember? not something you forget easily.”

“Hm,” was the only response Gaster could give, seeming thoughtful for a moment.

Alphys finally spoke up, “Umm…so, what are you thinking?” she was obviously incredibly nervous, for some reason. Can't think why.

“I can think of only two reasons, but none of them are ideally what we want to hear,” he put a bony hand on Sans’ arm, watching him for a second, “Use your magic on me.”

Sans blinked. “huh. well, i’d love to, G, but I can’t.”

He scowled, “And why not?”

Alphys stepped forward, “Uh-um, Gaster—”

“Try it. Use your magic.” The grip locked around his arm got tighter, “Use it on me now.”

Sans strained, honestly, it used to feel so effortless to use his abilities. But more recently he couldn’t even get his eye to turn blue, let alone call upon his blasters, his teleport, anything.

“really, G, i can’t, i’m trying.”

There was a momentary staring contest between the two skeletons, before the older one relented and released his grip. “Fascinating. But not ideal.”

Alphys breathed a sigh of relief, “Um...good. W-well, not good, obviously, but…”

“yeah, i get it,” Sans exhaled and attempted to sit up before he was roughly shoved back down again by Gaster, who was holding him in place. “uh…”

“Don’t sit up yet.” The older skeleton was glaring daggers into him so much it almost made him want to squirm too. Almost.

“i’m fine, G, honestly. not sure what happened back there, but. fine now.”

“Um, actually…Sans, you had a seizure, you’re not fine.” the little yellow reptilian was apparently determined to cause mild irritation.

Sans watched them both, eventually deciding they were gonna be too overprotective to let him do anything. So, he proposed a compromise.

“okay, so here’s the deal. i’ll lie here and do nothing, like always anyways, and if nothing happens to me after an hour, you let me get up. deal?”

Gaster appeared to be considering him for a moment before narrowing his eyes, “Sans, I will not let you die because you are ‘bored’,” he began, before studying the screens for a second, “This should be no different to your everyday behaviours. The only difference is that you are in my lab, and not at home with your brother.”

_well, he has a point._

“i guess,” he shrugged, his gut sinking slightly at the thought of his brother likely worrying over him, before coming to a realisation, “what’s your role here alphys? If G here is still the king’s royal scientist?” this will prove to be interesting, if either of them feel they're not in the right place...

Alphys twisted her claws together, “Um…I-I’m just an assistant. B-but now we’re on the surface, I’m a secondary scientist. J-just, not the main one l-like Gaster. So…still an assistant…I guess…”

Sans sighed. He really wasn’t going to be getting answers here any time soon. By the looks of things, everything seemed normal to everyone except him...but he thought better of disturbing the peace. “alright. so, what do you think happened to me?”

“I…um…well, when we found you at your house, you were in a real bad way, Sans…I…I was sure you were a goner…but! I was able to stabilise you here! After Gaster brought you here, we could do something to save you!”

_well, it looks like Gaster saved my backside, considering he got here first._

“You were talking about the timelines merging,” Gaster reminded him blatantly, “I am unsure whether this was a confused lie, or the truth, because I cannot feel anything.”

Sans shrugged, “like i said, you weren’t supposed to be here, yet here you are,” then he added for good measure, “i watched you die right in front of me, there’s no confusion about it.”

“Merging timelines,” Gaster recited Sans’ theory, “I suppose in the timeline you are from; I am already gone.”

“kinda, sorry. you fell into the core.”

“Intriguing.”

“i mean, not really? if this merge wasn’t happening you’d still be dead.”

“Then perhaps I am back for a purpose,” he decided, somehow unphased by his own demise, “Or we are all pawns in someone else’s game.”

Sans shifted uncomfortably, “well, only humans can alter the timeline.”

Gaster nodded, coming to a realisation, “Bring the human in here,” and walked the opposite direction away from Sans.

Alphys was perplexed, “Y-you mean Frisk? They wouldn’t do a-anything like this. Right…?”

Sans remained silent. He and Gaster both knew about Frisk’s ability to reset the timeline, the multiple different versions of themselves they were now on. The events that eventually led to the successful release of the monsters from the underground. If the kid got bored again, then…

“bring them in, alphys.”

The reptilian spluttered, lost for words at how their innocent, kind, cute little Frisk could do something so disastrous, but the two skeletons seemed adamant. “O-okay, but I don’t think this is a good idea…”

Sans closed his eyes, “yeah, me neither.”

* * *

Frisk showed up as their usual self, seemingly unphased by the situation at hand—or perhaps naïve to any part of it. When they turned to see Sans hooked up to a monster load of screens, their shoulders dropped. They pointed at him, confused, as if to ask for an explanation.

Sans snorted, “nah, don’t worry about me, kiddo. looks worse than it is. they just refuse to let me leave. if you thought tori was bad; oh boy.”

Frisk stepped closer, glancing at the screens and having absolutely no idea what any of them meant or what they even said.

“they’re both worse than papyrus, honestly.”

Frisk nodded, bewildered, and eventually turned to face Gaster. They gasped, tripped and fell back.

“I see what you mean,” Gaster noted, watching the child carefully, “A play, perhaps?”

Frisk shook their head at the sight of him, immediately backing away and fleeing for the door. Before the door had a chance to automatically open, Frisk was suddenly hauled up in the air and pulled back into the room with a yelp, their soul blue and frozen.

“hey, G, put them down. it’s alright.” Sans sat up, with Gaster unable to do anything about him with Frisk’s soul in his grasp.

Sans felt pity on the kid, especially as it seemed they hadn’t a clue what was happening; they had been called into the room and suddenly hauled into the air by a tall skeleton wearing a creepy cloak.

“Human, you have the ability to alter timelines, correct?” Gaster persisted anyway.   
Frisk immediately nodded, sensing it was probably best to tell the truth in front of this…creature.

“And are you aware of this timeline merging with another?”

To everyone’s surprise, Frisk nodded hastily and pointed towards Sans.

“huh?”

“Yes, because of your meddling, monsters have been hurt.” Gaster seemed to have taken the obsessive pointing as a 'look what's over there!' instead of a 'there is something incredibly wrong here'. Well, at least he wasn't the only one that felt that way.

Frisk violently shook their head again, pointing a finger at Sans with such fierceness it confused Gaster, causing him to drop their soul to see what they were trying to do.

Sans shuffled back slightly when Frisk came running towards them, baffled as they started pulling at his coat.

“Stay away from him, human,” echoed a voice that tore through the kid, making them jump. Sans glanced up over their head and eyed Gaster. He knew this Frisk, they meant no harm, despite what Gaster's paranoia thought of them.

“don’t worry ‘bout him, he’s just protective.” Sans hushed, causing the kid’s petrified expression to soften. Gaster didn’t seem to understand that Frisk had befriended everyone and was the reason why everyone was able to get out of the underground. In this timeline, Frisk wouldn’t hurt a fly.

They pulled his shirt up revealing the jagged wound—or, surprisingly, the almost lack of one. Surprised, Sans ran a bony finger over it.

“wow. good as new.”

Both Gaster and Alphys stood halfway across the room speechless. Not even a day ago there a cesspool of blood coming out of that wound; now it was nearly completely healed.

“B-but…that’s…impossible,” Alphys staggered, suddenly pacing over to see for herself, “How-how is that possible?”

Sans shrugged, “beats me.”

Despite the good news, the kid still seemed stressed out, pacing in circles for some reason.

“kiddo, it’s fine, i’m okay now,” perhaps they were stressed knowing the wound he had was from a past timeline when they were genocidal. But, that’s not this timeline.

“Curious.” Magic, perhaps?

Everyone looked up to see Gaster staring down at them from above.

“so…” Sans grinned hopefully, “i’m free to go?”

Gaster glared at him, but then back down to the wound, and relented. “I don’t see reason to keep you here longer if you have healed.”

“B-but,” Alphys butted in to ruin his freedom, “I would prefer it if we watched you for a while longer, j-just in case, you know?” came the logical voice of reason. She nervously played with her claws, “T-this is all just very sudden…”

Sans attempted to call upon his magic to show Alphys he was fine, only for nothing to come back. Neither of them appeared to have noticed, so he played it off, “look, listen, alphys, i’ll swing by later, yeah? besides, y’know me, i probably won’t do anything strenuous anyway. like sleeping.”

“I…I guess,” Alphys sighed, giving one last glance at the monitors, which all reported him in perfectly good health, before beginning to detach him from the wires, “But…if anything changes, you’ll come back to me straight away, right?”

Both of them knew Sans wouldn’t under any circumstances go back to either of them regarding his health, but they let him off the hook anyway.

“yeah, sure, whatever you say.”

Frisk stood and watched Alphys detach the monitors from Sans while he swung his legs around the table and jumped down. Frisk's face contorted with worry, they and Gaster exchanged a few meaningful glances before the older skeleton walked Sans out of the lab.

Something definitely wasn’t right here.

* * *

_*to be continued...._

_a/n: ok i've had this written out for a day but was nervous about submitting it lmao, man my anxiety is bad lately. anyway i hope you enjoyed!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has a nightmare, then gets frustrated by his lack of powers.

_Frisk stood and watched Alphys detach the monitors from Sans while he swung his legs around the table and jumped down. Their face contorted with worry, they and Gaster exchanged a few meaningful glances before the older skeleton walked Sans out of the lab._

_Something definitely wasn’t right here._

* * *

**Now:**

_A distorted, cracked long face, echoing and shouting right through Sans’ soul, a bodily horror he had never seen before. This was worse than the amalgamates, this was his friend._

_“what the hell happened to you, G?”_

_A series of shrieks was all he got in reply, startling him and he looked for a route of escape. Powerless. No blasters. No attack. No defence. No health._

_“c'mon, G, don’t do this,” his voice shook unnaturally, the façade of calm and collected gone out the window from what lay before him._

_He felt his soul rip out of his body, another series of hysteric shrieking from Gaster—no, the creature, as it swallowed his soul full as if it were only a speck of dirt. He felt himself fade, crumble to dust, with the knowledge that he amounted to nothing, and died by the hands of his own creator._

_“Sans!”_

_…_

_“Saaans!”_

_It was just a word now. A floating, meaningless word._

**_“SANS!”_ **

Sans startled awake on the coach, finding himself clawing inwardly and calling his powers for protection, but nothing came. Breathless and on high alert, he spun around, ready to take on his attacker with absolutely nothing at all.

But, his vision started to clear. And did the specks in his vision as they started to fade, the figure in front of people paved out to be Papyrus. His brother. In his house. On his coach. _He was safe._

He smiled sheepishly, “oh, uh, jeez, sorry about that pap,” he admitted, flustered. The lack of powers was certainly taking its toll on him, having spent his whole life with them.

“Worry not, brother! I am assuming this was another nightmare that I, the grrreat Papyrus, pulled you right out of! Like I always do!”

Sans forced a grin, pressing a hand over his aching side, “yeah, yeah, you did it bro. won my nightmares over again.”

Papyrus narrowed his eyes, “What was it about this time?”

Not wanting to press or admit what _hell_ he had seen in his dreams, Sans simply shrugged it off, “dunno, coming out of it now and i’m starting to forget, thanks to you,” he lied. Well, a half-truth. It was thanks to him he was out of it, at least.

“That’s what good brothers, like me, are for!” before Sans could get a word in, Papyrus continued, “I know what will make you feel better; I will now cook you some spaghetti!!”

The older brother held back a groan, “can you learn to cook something other than spaghetti.”

“Not at all!”

“thought so.”

When Papyrus left the room, Sans stared emptily at the door he walked out of, grasping his fingers into a fist in frustration.

 _I can’t protect Pap like this,_ he thought, growing angry with himself; _The second another genocidal kid drops, he’ll be defenceless._

Well, sort of. Papyrus’s attacks were pretty solid, it was the fact that he would never let a kid die that was the problem. Other kids had dropped down before, entered into fights with them; most of the time they had no intention to kill, but were just curious. Only the genocidal timeline did he not get back in time. He just returned to see a red scarf on top of a pile of dust, floating away into the snow…

“I’ve got it _perfect_ this time, Sans! You will never be able to resist!” Papyrus chortled in the room with a plateful of spaghetti.

“that was quick, bro,” perhaps he was finally getting lazy too and just microwaved it.

“Erm…well, I actually started cooking it while you were asleep…it was supposed to be a surprise, but I wanted to cheer you up!”

Sans sniggered, wincing as his wound spasmed at the movement “thanks bro, in that case resisting this will be… _impastable_.”

“Saaans! That was _terrible_!”

He shrugged, “i aim to impress.”

Now being faced with eating the inedible creation…well…this was a whole new level of torture. He glared at it, pushing the solidified mess around his plate.

“uh…” he tried to think of a distraction, “is that a human outside?”

Papyrus internally exploded, “A human!?” he shouted, running towards the window, and the incredibly empty streets, “Where is it?!” he paused and turned around slowly, “Sans! You! Tricked! Me!”

“dunno pap, swear I saw em hanging out by the window, must’ve ran away.”

Papyrus stood tall and proud, “Scared of me?!” then stopped, shoulders dropping, “But I don’t want them to be afraid of me…I want to be their…friend?!”

Sans sighed, shoving his now mysteriously empty plate aside, “yeah, don’t you just.”

To his surprise, Papyrus pushed aside his fascination with humans for a moment and plonked down next to him, “What is the matter brother? You have been rather down lately!”

_huh. guess i’m getting worse at hiding things._

“s’nothing pap, just having a bad day i guess,”

“But I want to help!”

“papyrus. it’s fine.” _you can’t do anything to fix this._

“Do you need me to lend an ear!”

“no”

“Do you want me to call…Undyne!”

“no”

“Toriel?”

“no”

“Frisk?”

“definitely not”

“Gaster?”

Sans’ breath hitched in his throat for a second as the nightmare flashed back to him, “…no.”

“Then what do I do!”

He clenched his fists, but forced himself to relax. “listen, pap, i just need to be alone right now. i’ll be fine. promise. and you know i hate making promises. so, trust me.”

The younger brother looked crestfallen, but piped up enthusiastically “If that’s what you want…I’ll give you so much alone time you’ll never see me again!”

Sans eyes shot up.

“I…am joking, of course,” Papyrus’ eyes narrowed, now suspicious in what was really going on in his big bro’s head.

“yeah. anyway, cya,” he got up from the coach, sluggishly making his way towards his room, hopefully to not be disturbed.

Reaching his room, Sans shut the wooden door with a _creak_ and collapsed against it, exhaling a breath he had been keeping in his gut for god knows how long. He pulled his shirt up, glancing down to see what was causing so much aching. The wound looked…less healed.

“aww man,” he sighed, pressing a tentative finger against it to see if it elicited any pain. Thankfully, it didn’t. “gotta stop moving around, or I’ll reopen the damn thing,” he chastised himself, pushing away the rational thought that tried to crawl up on his back, _you’ve done nothing but sleep since you got home._

Now that he was alone, he could finally try to regain control over his powers. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, trying to feel for it within his soul, calling out for it. He felt himself resonate with his soul, clawing at it, just a touch away from grasp, but the power just jumped away, as if teasing him.

He pushed harder, more forceful reaching for this entity within him, **but it refused.**

With all the strength he could muster, he bashed his head against the door and shook as he tried harder with all his might, inwardly clawing and scratching and screaming for the taunting blue energy that refused to come out.

A familiar shooting pain in his side made him redirect all his strength to his body, clenching onto the wound that suddenly attacked him.

_son of a…_

Exhausted, he slumped against the door, mindlessly looking into the floor, fruitlessly deciding what to do next. He was screaming at himself inwardly to regain control over his powers, but his body outwardly was screaming at him to ­ _stop_ in fear of ripping open his wound.

But decidedly, the safety of everyone else had a greater importance than his wound wanting to reopen. So, he tried again.

* * *

Despite his best efforts to tidy the kitchen in the happiest of moods, Papyrus couldn’t help but overhear the roaring of anger followed by smashing coming from upstairs.

His brother wanted to be left alone, and was likely venting his frustration in his room and didn’t need him to come in and ruin it. Stupid old Papyrus…

Sans had lost his powers, sure, but this type of anger was something he never witnessed from him. Except, well, once, when they were a lot younger, but…that doesn’t matter anymore.

As Papyrus closed a cupboard, he jolted in startlement as another ­ _crash_ jumped him, nearly dropping a plate. He sighed, throwing himself back onto the coach and glaring at the floor, trying not to upset himself over the screaming going on upstairs, something he was powerless to help with.

The shouting and crashing had been going on for what seemed like hours now, and didn’t show any signs of letting up.

He almost wished Undyne hadn’t given him any leave time to look after his brother while he recovered – he almost wished he could be working instead of being at home, listening to this.

Cautiously, he noticed that there hadn’t been the sound of a table hitting the wall in over 30 seconds. With piped interest, Papyrus raised his head, listening out hopefully. But no further sounds came.

Peace, at last.

* * *

“So do you think the merge has already finished? O-or is it still going?”

Gaster sighed at his assistant, swiping away the 74th result that showed exactly the same thing as all the others in the last hour, “There is no way to truly tell. We can only monitor the timelines for changes and assume the merge has completed when it lacks change.”

“So…that’s a no then?” she smiled gingerly, but quickly turned away when Gaster’s face just remained impassive.

Having nowhere else to look except the lovely shiny black wall, she eventually gathered the courage to turn around again, except this time his face was plastered with concern.

“G-Gaster?” she asked worriedly, the display of emotion on his face was a sight rarely beheld.

“Something is wrong,” he stated vacantly, but didn’t make a beeline for the screens.

“Um…like what?”

“Something…entirely different, but still…powerful.”

Alphys looked at him as if he was mad before looking at the screens herself. Nothing in the timelines had changed. She declared as such, “There’s been no changes, i-it’s all okay!” she turned to him, his expression still hadn’t changed “e-everything is normal…”

He didn’t answer, his eyes calculating, as if trying to decipher an encrypted message.

“Um…wh-what do we do?”

Gaster seemed to come back to his senses at that, releasing his then-solidified shoulders and reverting back to his emotionless state, “Nothing more, we continue.”

Alphys was uneasy, “Uh-um, okay…?” nothing ever phased Gaster. Whatever it was, it was something big.

“Crossmatch our unique timeline events with the others, perhaps we can find at least which one we are potentially merging with,” he continued, striding in front of Alphys and running through a plethora of information, all of which were coming back negative.

Alphys crossed her arms in thought, “What about narrowing down to timelines that have done the same route as us? Pacifist?”

“No, we could be merging by either one of them, whether pacifist, genocide or neutral.”

“A-and if it’s neutral that doesn’t narrow it down at all…”

“Precisely.”

“B-but there’s thousands, possibly millions of timelines out there! How are we ever going to find the right one before it’s too late?”

Gaster didn’t have an answer for that, narrowing his eyes and simply focusing on the screens, though not particularly reading them, “It is likely we won’t know in time. In fact, anything that has already happened may not be possible to undo,” then he paused, “Without a reset.”

“…Are you thinking of asking Frisk to reset?”

“No, I am saying it’s a possibil—" he cut himself off, grunting as he almost stumbled over his own feet, a wheezing hollowness in his chest that felt as if half of his soul had just tore in half.

The smaller scientist jumped up immediately to help, “Gaster! Are you ok?” she turned to help him up, only to find a blue eye had become dim, the other man remaining silent.

The tall skeleton growled under his breath, in—frustration? His dark frayed cloak whooshed off to the side before completely vanishing in a flurry of thick black smoke. It was apparent he already knew what was happening.

Alphys put her head in her hands sorrowfully, fearing the worst, “Oh no, not again…”

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

**a/n:** hey i hate to be that person but if you feel like it would you mind leaving kudos? its just nice motivation to get an email about and it keeps me 'determined' ifuknowhatimean. but like always i'll see you next time!! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans drives himself insane struggling to get his powers to work, then the truth is revealed about what Gaster had done to him.

_The tall skeleton growled under his breath, in—frustration? His dark frayed cloak whooshed off to the side before completely vanishing in a flurry of thick black smoke. It was apparent he knew what was happening._

_Alphys put her head in her hands, fearing the worst, “Oh no, not again…”_

…..

Papyrus, against all odds, had just been doing nothing.

Nothing.

He hadn’t moved from the coach, he hadn’t gone back to work, attempted to cook something or socialised with anyone.

The house was completely silent, and knowing Sans was in a bad mood and didn’t want to be disturbed, Papyrus was…afraid.

It wasn’t something that was new to him; he had spent his whole life living with anxieties and troubling thoughts; however, Sans was the opposite, and he was always the rock that would help him. But now, left alone, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

And that was the thing, Sans was always there for him; but when he was the one in trouble, Papyrus just…left him to his own anguish and ignored him…?

Finally, he arose from the sofa and headed to Sans’ room, deciding he would do something now, whether his brother liked it or not.

Besides, the house was so quiet that his brother was probably asleep. In fact, he was _certain_ that’s what happened. And all this worrying would be for nothing.

“Sans?” he called out to his brother, pausing behind closed doors, “Are you awake brother?”

…No reply.

Probably asleep?

“Saaans?” he tried again, knocking quietly on the wood, “Wake up…..?”

Unable to push aside his worry, silence was the only thing he met when the door creaked open, a gush of warm air seeping through. As Papyrus pushed the door open further, he cringed at the sound of broken wood scraping across the floor, reminding him of his probable tantrum earlier in the day.

There was a motionless blue heap on the floor, and if it wasn’t for the pink slipper halfway across the room and exposing a foot, the heap could’ve been confused for discarded clothes.

Immediately, the lively skeleton barged into the room and tossed his smaller brother onto his back. “What have you done this time, Sans!?” his voice cracked as he shouted, desperate to get a response. “ _Sans!”_

Aside from the broken objects discarded around the room, a blue substance was also dotted around the area, splattering various objects.

Papyrus took a second to try to piece things together—but he couldn’t. “Agh!! Why am I so stupid!!” he yelled into thin air, knowing there was a correlation between the mysterious substance and his once again unconscious brother.

“mmmh…paps?” spluttered a gravelly voice, two eye sockets trying to open but failing.

“Sans!” Papyrus declared in relief—at least he wasn’t dead.

“can’t ge’ m’ powerz t’ work,” Sans mumbled, slurring his words as if drunk.

Papyrus peered around the room with the obliterated pieces of furniture displaced everywhere, “Erm…I think you are wrong about that,” he suggested sheepishly, assuming the chaos was all thanks to his powers but the delusional state caused him to forget, “What is the matter with you?? And what’s all this mess??”

“can’t…get…t’work…” Sans garbled incoherently; it was at this moment Papyrus noticed the same blue substance beginning to roll down from his eye. He warily poked a finger at it, the material felt like something he’d never experienced before, like dirt trickling down his face.

“m’ not cryin’ pap, who’d ya think i am…”

Apparently he wasn’t aware of it either.

“Sans!! I’m not thinking that!!” he wailed, noticing his brother’s eyes rolling back again, “Sans! _Sans!”_

At that instant, a puff of black fog encompassed the room, sending Papyrus coughing and glaring scornfully at the offending mist in question, before it faded and revealed none other than Gaster.

His eyes immediately locked onto the blue dust painted around the room, before falling with alarm onto the motionless skeleton in front of him. Without sparing a thought towards Papyrus, he knelt to the floor and clutched the lifeless skeleton’s head firmly in his large hands.

“Sans, what have you done,” He murmured to himself in an accusatory tone, voice fierce but lacking any emotion. He inspected his face intensely, perhaps identifying the link between him and the blue dust. “Again.”

The room lay in silence for a few moments before Papyrus asserted himself, “Um…Gaster? Do you have any idea what’s going on??” anxiety pooled in his stomach for a reply, knowing the situation was truly bleak, so much so that Gaster didn’t even offer him an explanation.

Papyrus watched mournfully as Gaster mumbled unintelligible words down at Sans, his tight grasp refusing to let up.

“Why has he done this,” he finally said, a statement more than a question, tense and white knuckled.

“Well…he was talking about his powers, he couldn’t get a hold of them,” Papyrus slowly explained, running a hand behind his head, “He destroyed everything in here… in frustration”

Gaster watched Papyrus carefully, taking note of how his enthusiastic nature had all but gone, before peering back down at Sans. “It appears to me that he strained against the block and the essence went absolutely out of control,” ultimately deciding to offer his theory, “He regained control over the power, if only temporarily, only for it to be destroying him on the inside.”

“It makes sense…? It definitely isn’t like my brother to be throwing furniture around in anger,” thought Papyrus, his mood lifted but immediately dampened when he looked at his lifeless brother again. He swallowed hard, wanting to ask the question that had been sitting in the back of his brain for the past 10 minutes but fearing the answer. He made a vague gestured towards his brother’s motionless body.

“…Is…he…?”

“No.”

Papyrus blew out a long sigh of relief. For a second he really thought that…no. Not Sans. Not ever.

Where was his optimism? His hopes? They had all but vanished in light of recent trauma.

“Oh thank goodness!! I really thought…wait,” Papyrus remembered something Gaster said before, “What do you mean…by…block??”

Gaster’s shoulders visibly slumped, obviously hoping that the question wouldn’t be brought up. “I put a block on his powers to stop him using them; a temporary measure.”

Papyrus gawped at him dumbfoundedly, “You…put…why? He was going crazy!!”

The old skeleton sighed resignedly, “I had to insert a block to stabilize him. He was affected by the timelines merging, and this was affecting his powers, which was affecting him,” then he gently released Sans’ head onto the floor, “If I am correct, then…” he pulled back his now ruffled shirt, to reveal the wound on his ribcage had completely reopened, but was now discharging the same blue substance, which disintegrated at the softest of touches.

“Wait…” Papyrus narrowed his eyes in realisation, “Is that—”

“His powers, yes. They are seeping from his wound, as he has broken the block, causing his powers to start obliterating him on the inside,” at that, he reclaimed Sans’ head in his hands, closing his eyes and concentrating. “I am attempting to establish another block.”

Papyrus blinked dumbfoundedly. This man had a lot of power.

“I gave him this power, I can take it away again,” Gaster reaffirmed his beliefs, clearly seeing the confusion in his eyes, “I am admittedly struggling to re-establish the block on this occ—”

Abruptly, Sans shot up from the floor, eyes burning blue and trickling down his bones like dust. Out the blue, Gaster was hauled up and thrown across the room before the eyes of anyone in the room could adjust to what was happening. Papyrus yelped and jumped back out of the way, while Gaster as always remained calm and composed.

A sinister smile was plastered on the small skeleton’s face, an unrelenting force that seemingly even Gaster couldn’t get out of.

“thought you had me trapped, didn’t you,” Sans murmured, harshly increasing the force Gaster was pushed against the wall with, “thought i didn’t notice? you’re a fake. you’re not gaster.”

Gaster stared at him in shock, “Sans, I—”

“tell me who you are,” Sans unrelented, tightening the squeeze his power had, “tell me right now or i’ll crush you to death against this wall.”

Papyrus audibly gasped at his brother’s sudden violent outburst, “Brother!! What are you doing!? You must stop this!!”

Gaster simply smirked, “I assume you think I am not real because in another timeline, you saw me die,” he reasoned, trying to put some rational thought into the skeleton’s head, “But I assure you, I am simply from a timeline where that did not happen, a timeline where…” he paused, coming across a realisation.

_Perhaps the same timeline I am from is the one that is merging here. This is the most logical explanation I have come across._

“a timeline where what, buddy?” Sans hissed, his grip merciless.

_I am the epicentre of all of this._

Gaster took a deep breath—or the best he could in his situation, and continued, “You and I can both sense changes in the timeline, correct?”

“yup”

“Theoretically we are both from different timelines which are merging with each other. My existence is one of the unique changes this timeline now has.”

“ya can’t be both dead and alive bucko. even if your ‘theory’ is correct, there can’t be two of you,”

“Sans!” Papyrus tried getting his attention again, which only earned a quick side glance from his brother, “Please let him go!!”

Sans snorted, “get out pap, i don’t want you to see this.”

Both Papyrus and Gaster exchanged looks, before Sans eyed them both. “what? you trying to tell me you’re on his side? c’mon bro, he’s playing us,”

Papyrus ran to Gaster and tried pulling him down himself.

“bro.”

“Sans…let him…go!”

“papyrus, stop it.”

“You can’t do this!! This isn’t you!!”

“get out”

Papyrus’ breath caught in his throat at the rejection, a huge sinking feeling weighed into his stomach. There was a flash of remorse in his brother’s eyes, but it quickly turned back into determination.

He turned his attention back to Gaster, “you’re awfully quiet, buddy.”

“I am waiting.”

“for what.”

“You’ll see. Then you will understand.”

Sans glared at him, before all at once, the pain suddenly hit; he dropped Gaster, gasping for breath and falling on his knees again, coughing up blue particles onto the floor. Gaster sighed, but took his chance immediately and manhandled him into his grasp, once again attempting to put another block in place.

“get the hell off me,” Sans growled, struggling to use his powers again, but it only sent him immediately throwing up dust. This time, Papyrus had the courage to join and help Gaster with his efforts in restraining him; it was obvious to him now that Sans was ­ _not_ in a rational state of mind at all.

“Stop fighting me, Sans, I am only trying to help. Your action are further proof that you are unwell.”

Sans sharply inhaled, choking on another wisp of the blue dust, his eyes shining a brighter blue than any of them had ever seen before. When his body begun to fail him, and his bones became weak and refused to continue fighting, he felt his grip on reality fading.

“let go of me, G,” he pleaded, now beginning to worry about the possibility of his situation becoming fatal as his body failed him, “i can’t lose my powers.”

Gaster still had him in his grasp, but released the intensity of his hold slightly, “This will only be temporary. As you can see, if I let you go, you will surely die.”

“everyone else will die if i lose my powers.”

“No they won’t, brother!” Papyrus chimed in, a well needed positive attitude bringing life to the dire situation again. It didn’t matter that the optimism felt forced. “You have I, The Great Papyrus, and Undyne! The Royal Guards will protect everyone!”

Sans looked up wistfully at him, the two skelebros exchanging meaningful looks, before eventually he gave in and slumped into Gaster’s hold.

Without further delay, the old man immediately reinstated the block within seconds without issue, before gently laying him on the floor again. The blue dust slowed down it’s trickling descent from Sans’ body, before stopping entirely.

Papyrus looked at Sans unhappily, then decided his brother was better off on his natural habitat, aka a bed. He hauled him up into his embrace, dropping him carefully onto his bed.

“He’s had those powers since he was a baby bones,” he acknowledged nostalgically, watching pensively as his brother slept looking peaceful for the first time in a long time, “Gaster…you should have told him what you were doing and maybe none of this would have happened!”

Gaster was taken aback by the young skeleton’s complaint, not something he would do often. But alas. “I suppose, from this timeline he reacted differently to what I expected he would in mine. Here, he is a lot more…protective, of the underground and it’s inhabitants. In my timeline, there has been several occasions over the years where he has suggested a life without his powers entirely.”

Papyrus nodded eagerly, “Well you know now what he is like, so this won’t happen again!!”

Gaster shrugged, staring regretfully at Sans, wondering what the hell he was going to do with him.

“I can only hope so.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans' blue magic causes more havoc for Gaster, and then Frisk is in big trouble as the timeline starts to affect them too.

* * *

_**A/N: This one is a bit longer, but a lot more has happened. It gets a tiny teeny bit violently-graphic later but that's it.** _

_**Also, I know a lot has been going on in the world recently and I hope everyone is safe and well, stay strong!** _

* * *

_Gaster was taken aback by the young skeleton’s complaint, not something he would do often. But alas. “I suppose, from this timeline he reacted differently to what I expected he would in mine. Here, he is a lot more…protective, of the underground and its inhabitants. In my timeline, there has been several occasions over the years where he has suggested a life without his powers entirely.”_

_Papyrus nodded eagerly, “Well you know now what he is like, so this won’t happen again!!”_

_Gaster shrugged, staring regretfully at Sans, wondering what the hell he was going to do with him._

_“I can only hope so.”_

* * *

The sadness drained Papyrus. An unforgiving wave of hopelessness and despair, clutching his soul and threatening to shatter it like glass. If emotion was a physical matter, he would have fallen down a long time ago. He fiddled with his hands idly, a tense feeling in the air between himself and the other scientist.

When he was inwardly pleading for reassurance from his brother, he received only silence in return.

“What is the matter, Papyrus?” the older man queried, who was hovering by Sans’ bedside and had hardly left. His face lacked emotion and his speech was unwavering, but actions speak louder than words.

“I can’t get him to speak!” Papyrus sobbed, defeated, “When he’s awake he’s just so distant and stares into space, he won’t talk to me anymore…”

Gaster sighed, his eyes falling onto the sleeping brother, “You must be patient, Papyrus, he will come to, eventually.”

“But I need to do something now!! I can’t! Just! Sit here!”

Gaster clenched the device in his hands and twiddled with it, “Well, you will have to, he is not ready yet. He is grieving.”

“I know, I know…but…I just…”

“You want to do something, I know.” Gaster met his gaze for the first time, as if actually attempting to provide comfort for once, “I…cannot do anything either. My existence I fear makes him worse. He despises me, because I shouldn’t be here,” he paused, an eye flickering orange and back again, “Because I took his power from him, but…”

“But it’s temporary, right!” Papyrus became excited, standing up from the seat and edging ever closer to Gaster, “You’ll give it back soon!”

The device in Gaster’s hands made a cracking noise, making the skeleton flinch in near surprise.

“Um…”

“In due time, yes, I will give it back.”

Papyrus watched him uneasily, before retreating back to the seat in the corner of the room.

* * *

After finally arguing with Papyrus until he was blue in the face (and possibly the soul…), Gaster had convinced him to go home and rest, leaving him alone with Sans and some peace and quiet.

_At last._

Now he could swamp himself up to the neck with work without distractions.

He decided it was best to start reporting to logs again, to note the progress of the merging timeline, and of course the issue with Sans.

Gaster fished out an audio log recorder from the stashes of his extremely untidy tables and started the first log of many.

 _“Entry 1. It’s been three days since I reinstated the block on Sans. He has yet to wake up,”_ he paused and glanced over to the immobile skeleton, as if to confirm it for himself, _“I have sent Papyrus home, although it looks as if he is going to struggle being alone for much longer. I’m considering alternative arrangements,”_ he strode over to Sans’ side, taking in the readings from the machine he was attached to. “ _His soul is…discouraging. Currently at 0.80 when his norm is 1, which for a monster is already extremely low HP. He is deficient even more so than usual,”_ he found himself skipping the subject of the possibility of death.

He left the log going as a few more silent moments dragged on, before deciding he’d had enough. Placing the recorder aside, he slumped down on the chair beside Sans and threw his head in his hands. Could this battle even be won? Perhaps it was too late now.

“jeez, G, you look more defeated than I do.”

Gaster, not moving his head from his hands, breathed a quiet sigh of relief, suddenly too tired to move.

_So, he’s not dead **yet.**_

“could use another nap though.”

At that, Gaster lifted his head sluggishly but with some degree of alertness, only to be met with a large grin from the other skeleton. He sighed. Then stared at the floor.

Sans’ smile dropped. “c’mon, G, starting to worry me now. how long did I sleep?”

“Three days,” Gaster mumbled.

There was a long pause between the two skeletons.

“guessing you didn’t sleep yourself at any point during those days”

The silence from him was telling.

“welp, in that case you better go to sleep before I do.”

“I was beginning to accept your fate, and arrange for Papyrus to move in with another citizen,” he suddenly stated, eyes weary and tired, “I am still not sure how to heal you.”

Sans observed him for a moment, analysing the overworked and exhausted face. The truth about how long he had been working to save his life suddenly dawned upon him.

“you better rest, gaster, i’ll be fine. or I can call my bro to watch me, or something, i dunno.”

“I suppose having your brother watch would be more beneficial than myself in my current state. He is after all, protective.”

“what, and you’re not?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

“heh, yeah.”

* * *

 _“After all this time, you still don’t understand, do you?  
_ _You’re mine, I will do you with as I please, and you will obey me. Otherwise…” his bro was hauled up in the air, a panicked expression on his face,  
“You can say goodbye to your brother.”_

* * *

Sans’ eyes shot open, heart pounding in his throat, and unfortunately for Gaster—his frowning face was the first thing he saw looming over him. “Sans, are you—"

Hyperventilating, Sans’ eye turned blue in icy panic. He threw out an arm, fear choking him into silence. Gaster’s body rammed up heavily against the wall, the black and white figure’s eyes widening in shock. He could hear Papyrus’ voice screeching in the background, probably yet again telling him to let his victim go, but right now all he could hear was a high-pitched whistling noise in his ear, his panicking brain set on getting Gaster away from his brother.

Before long, Sans’ mind had begun to clear and was slowly coming back to reality. A few seconds later, the blue light faded from the old scientist and he nearly fell onto the floor.

He hardly noticed himself wheezing and trembling until the familiar touch of his brother rested on his shoulder, in the same way he always does when he gets like this.

“Breathe, brother, it will all be okay!” he could just about make out the words, the noise in his ears now forming into a duller hissing noise instead, while he panted uncontrollably, “It was just another nightmare! Everything is okay!”

Sans let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding and allowed his brother to embrace him, his legs trembling so much he felt like he was about to collapse.

After a while, Sans and Gaster exchanged a long look, the old skeleton glaring at him for what seemed like minutes before finally turning around with a _hrumph_ and striding out the room.

“huh. guess i’ve pissed him off again.”

Papyrus released his tight grip on Sans, “Brother!! What on earth was that!!?”

Sans grimaced at images of his nightmare flashing through his mind, “bad dream, i guess.”

“Um…what happened to the block?”

“oh that. dunno. guess that went too.”

“Again!?”

Sans sighed, shrugging and closing his eyes, “pap i-…listen, i’ve got no idea, ok?”

“Well…he put the block back, and waited three days for you to wake up…and once you did, it was gone again! Astounding!”

“yup, i’m sure that’s how he sees it.”

“But not to worry! I bet he’s really happy that you’ve got your powers back already! All on your own!”

“eeeyup.”

Papyrus glared at him. “Sans. You’re being sarcastic again!”

“don’t know what to say, bro.”

It was odd for Papyrus; he didn’t quite understand what was going on but he assumed it was…good…? His brother having his powers back…that was good, wasn’t it?

“Then why are you so down!! I know that look!”

He faked a smile, “i’m not down.”

“You haven’t made a joke in almost a week! It’s very concerning!”

Sans took a moment to think long and hard about an amazing joke he could pull off to stop his younger brother from worrying. But alas, nothing came to mind, his thoughts mostly consisted of just a jumbled mess.

“I will go and talk to him for you! I must fix this! Both of you are clearly very unhappy.”

“don’t even try, pap, just…leave him be, and…it’ll sort itself out, y’know?” there was an air of uncertainty in his voice, but it fooled Papyrus, nonetheless.

“Well…if you say so. You know him much better than me!”

Sans shrugged, his eyes drooping as exhaustion came over him again. This set off alarm bells in his brain. If he could glow blue and was growing tired, then…surely the other ‘symptoms’ would return.

He coddled his ribs pre-emptively, his heart pounding again at the thought of Gaster’s reaction to the block yet again inexplicably disappearing. And yet, he had to remain calm and impassive around his brother, as to not worry him.

All at once, the grey doors whooshed open, Alphys following through and carrying with great strain— the kid.

“G-Gaster? Gaster! _Where are you!?”_ the little reptile shouted, completely ignoring the two brothers and scanning the room for the scientist, “Gaster! I-It’s the human!”

Sans popped his head up in alarm, and almost at the same time, Gaster strode through the doors and immediately pointed at the table.

“Put them on the table. What happened?”

Alphys was a panicking mess, “I-I don’t know!! They came in to see me, saying they were seeing weird things, but t-then they collapsed and I didn’t know what to do!”

Sans felt himself freeze as Gaster’s eyes trailed upon him after Alphys’ explanation, before focusing back on the human. He swallowed the rising panic in his mind and stood up, leaving Papyrus’ hand to fall off his shoulder as he quickly strolled over, assessing the situation itself. He was ill, but he was still a scientist and had a duty.

Frisk squirmed around the table, face completely scrunched up in pain. Gaster, having a hunch, pulled up the blue and purple jumper and grit his teeth at all the bruising going on underneath. Papyrus audibly gasped from behind them.

“Just as I suspected,” he announced, taking a red vial from under the table and slotting it in the syringe, “Similar to Sans. Seems like old wounds have come to the surface. Likely from another timeline.” he jammed it into Frisk’s side, causing them to yelp and grit their teeth.

Alphys’ eyebrows knitted together in confusion, “From—you…what?”

“It seems the progress of the timelines merging is much worse than I had anticipated,” he explained, watching the screens and waiting for Frisk’s vital signs to even out, “I must find a way to stabilize it before it gets any worse.”

Frisk curled into a fetal position and braced their arm around their stomach, eyes squeezed shut and gasping.

Sans put a hand on their wrist to urge them to open up, “Frisk, lemme see, kiddo”

There of course wasn’t a reply from the human, continuing to tremble as if they hadn’t heard him. They continued to hyperventilate, breaths sawing in and out. Sans move his hand to their arm, tugging at it faintly. He noted the muscles were tight.

“Sans, we haven’t got time for this,” Gaster growled, glancing back and forth the deafening monitor and the child.

“hold on, G,” he mumbled, gently tugging a sleeve up and grinding his teeth at the red blistering layers on the skin.

_…shit._

Gaster stared at it vacantly. “How on earth…”

“uh, right, topical silver sulfadiazine first,” he instructed, attempting to pull Frisk’s sweater over their head only for them to scream in pain. “kid, i need to see the rest of this,”

Frisk violently shook their head in refusal.

Gaster was in disbelief, “There is a lack any bleeding, only burns. A home accident?”

A feeling of heaviness weighed on Sans. His eyes went dark, a grave expression upon his face as he realised.

_i know what this is, and i know why._

Alphys growled, “They won’t let me take it off either!” the child wailed and writhed around on the spot.

Sans squeezed his eyes shut and sighed heavily, “then cut it off.”

_kid will die if we don’t do something._

While they worked to get the sweater off the refusing child, Papyrus attempted to distract them.

“Human! Let’s play a game!”

Frisk stopped squirming and gazed at him in curiosity. Flustered that his incredible plan had actually worked, Papyrus hurried for his next move.

“Um…how about..” he tried to think over the shrill, grating sound of the alarms, “Uhh…I wish I had one of my extravagant puzzles with me! How about eye spy?”

Frisk hyperactively nodded in excitement and pointed at Papyrus.

“Me first? Good!” he narrowed his eyes in concentration, “Eye spy, something beginning with…P.”

Frisk hummed, easily ignoring Alphys tearing their sweater in half with a pair of scissors. Then they pointed at Papyrus again.

“Wowie! You got it right! You’re excellently good at—” he cut himself off when Frisk tensed up, scrunching their eyes shut as Sans jabbed them in the side with a needle.

“nearly done kiddo, hang in there,”

Frisk pouted in resignation.

“Sans…” Papyrus strained cautiously, now taking in the red scalded skin before him, “Why are there burn marks all over their body?”

Staring at his feet, Sans scowled, his shoulders dropping, “no idea paps.”

Papyrus stood up straight, “But you _do_ know! You’ve been acting all weird and quiet and annoyed and if it’s something you—”

“Papyrus,” Gaster interrupted him with a stern glare, “Stop this. We do not know.” The gaze he was giving him expressed that they _did_ know but didn’t want to say.

“Umm…so anyway,” Alphys spoke up, attempting to change the subject, “Does um…a-anyone want to um…” she desperately tried to think of something to lighten the mood on the spot, “Um…want to…hang out after this with…Undyne…?” she smiled sheepishly, cringing herself at the terribly strung together sentence.

“might be nice. been a while since i’ve seen her,” Sans offered a response with a half-smile to encourage her.

“U-um…yeah! Okay! I’ll let her know!” she paused and took in the current situation, “…after this, though, of course.”

Papyrus sniggered, but then stared onwards at the child helplessly. Everyone was able to do something to help Frisk…except him.

Gaster quickly glanced over to the screens and noted the vital signs evening out, giving a subtle relieved look over to Sans. He reciprocated the gaze.

“well, kiddo, looks like you’re done,” Sans decreed, watching the monitors again for good measure, as if it was suddenly going to drop again. Couldn’t be too careful these days.

“See!? You’re going to be alright, human!” Papyrus declared, but then his eyes fell upon the ripped up blue and purple sweater, “Uh…you’ll need a new jumper!”

Frisk forced a smile to calm the nerves of the enthusiastic skeleton, eager to do something useful. Sans gave them his blue hoodie for the time being.

“S-so…Undyne wants to give a group cooking lesson…” Alphys finished the call to Undyne and tucked the phone away. Papyrus jumped up eagerly.

“That works for me! I will be the ambassador of cooking! Let’s go, human!”

Frisk pursed their lips but nodded, managing to slip off the table before Sans’ gently grabbed their shoulder.

“just a sec, pal. need to talk with you a moment,” he looked up to Papyrus and Alphys peering over their shoulders, “the kid’ll catch you up, ok?”

They both tentatively nodded their okay’s and walked off, whispering to each other. Sans sighed with half-clenched fists, while Frisk looked up at him worriedly.

“you know what that was, don’t ya?”

They nodded.

“so, you from this timeline? or the other one? cos there’s only one reason why you’d be so badly burnt like that and if you’re from the other timeline…”

Frisk shook their head vivaciously and pointed at the floor.

“you’re from here? good. i suppose i could sorta tell. could sense it.”

Frisk didn’t really know how to reply to that, squirming uncomfortably under the skeleton’s stare.

“now, from what G and i could tell, and you’ve probably guessed, the timeline we’re merging with is one where you…” his eye sockets went black, “…killed everyone.”

The look on the kid’s face sent Sans reeling, “heh, you know i’m kidding. but really. that makes sense. cos that explains this wound that won’t go away,” he pulled up his white shirt to reveal the reopening scar that just couldn’t seem to stay shut. “i’ve had a magic block put in my head twice to stop my body from constantly reopening it. but guess what? both of those times i’ve somehow got past it. since I managed it the first time it’s pretty much doing it with ease.”

Frisk’s eyes went wide, suddenly staring themselves down, assuming the worst. If Sans’ wound kept opening back up, would all the burns come back just as quickly?

“yeah, see, that was my worry. but you’re human, and your readings are different than mine. probably because i’ve got powers and you don’t, i guess.”

Frisk nodded, seeming a little more hopeful in the eyes.

“you feel anything like that again, or any different at all, you come right back to me, got it?”

Frisk once again nodded, crossing their arms into the shape of an x across their chest.

“heh, yeah. cross your heart. i’ll hold you to that.”

The kid smiled and pointed at the door longingly.

“yeah, yeah, you can go now.”

Frisk jumped up and ran out after their friends, leaving Sans alone with Gaster—who had apparently walked out the room while he was chatting. Oh well. Cherish the moment where the entire room didn’t feel sombre with Gaster’s presence.

Though, with the current mood he was in, he could do that on his own.

* * *

To be Continued...

* * *

A/N: thank you again for the kudos! i've taken up writing during this really difficult time for us all and the kudos emails mean a lot to me. i hope everyone is safe and well! :-)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the Undertale family are together today, but there's something wrong with Frisk--they're hiding something, and Sans is the only one that notices...

_“you feel anything like that again, or any different at all, you come right back to me, got it?”  
Frisk once again nodded, crossing their arms into the shape of an x across their chest.  
“yeah, yeah, you can go now.”  
Frisk jumped up and ran out after their friends, leaving Sans alone with Gaster—who had apparently walked out the room while he was chatting. Oh well. Cherish the moment where the entire room didn’t feel sombre with Gaster’s presence. _

_Though, with the current mood he was in, he could do that on his own._

* * *

“Entry 2. Sans woke up, however the block I reinstated has once again inexplicably disappeared. He experienced what I could only assume was a nightmare and threw me against the wall. Then the child came down with similar symptoms but with completely different readings. I can only hope that they do not suffer the same fate as Sans. I have been routinely using healing magic on his wound, but the problem will always reassert itself days later. I am at a loss for what to do.”

He hesitated, but growled in frustration and tossed the recorder away.

Was there a point to doing this if he would return to be dead anyway? Or will he stay? Will Sans _allow_ him to stay? Does he belong in another timeline?

Gaster adjusted his clothing compulsively and clenched his fingers into fists. “If only I understood why.”

* * *

_**3 days later** _

* * *

Sans, Papyrus, Undyne and Frisk all coddled around the TV set in Toriel's house, watching the daily news. It was still a new prospect for monsters, and some of them, namely Papyrus, were finding it extremely entertaining. Or, something to complain about.

“Saaaaans!!”

“yea”

“Why is there a TV channel! About the weather!!? Why!?”

“what’d you mean, pap?”

“Well, we can just look outside! It’s pointless!”

“heh, well. how ‘bout you write to ‘em?”

“Write…to them…? What will that do!”

“maybe if they think you’re cool enough they’ll take you on board.”

“And be the Royal Weather Skeleton! Yes! I can see it now!”

“…no, that wasn’t what i—”

“Sans! You are very smart! Almost as smart as me!”

“huh.”

“NGAHHH!” Undyne suddenly shot upright, “Imagine me as a weather person! _PUT ON YOUR COAT OR YOU WILL DROWN!”_

“oh jeez.”

“We could be weather people together! The Great Papyrus and Undyne the Undying – Weatherpersons!” Papyrus waltzed in front of the TV while Undyne paced in thoughtful circles.

Undyne’s eye glowed in excitement, “That sounds PERFECT! I will march onto their stage tomorrow and we will take it over!”

Both monsters shouted in unintelligible unison of excitement while Frisk and Sans cringed, clapping their hands over their ears.

“What is going on in here?”

Everyone stopped shouting and turned around ruefully to the voice of Toriel, standing at the doorstep with a baked pie. Sans grinned from the sofa.

“Erm…” Papyrus slumped, “The weather…?”

She smiled, “The weather? My my, you _are_ running out of topics to talk about. How about something a little more interesting?” she gestured down to her plate of food and hesitated, her eye noticing Sans staring at Frisk uneasily. “Sans? Frisk?”

Sans whipped his head around, “huh? oh, right. yeah, ok.”

“Frisk?” Toriel asked again, “Are you alright, my child?”

Frisk’s head popped up in attention from staring their feet, and nodded vigorously.

“Well…if you say so,” she said slowly, noticing how Sans was still watching them, “Would you like some pie?”

They smiled and nodded again, reaching out for the entire plate and practically snatching it from her hands.

“What—all of it?” she cautiously stepped forward, “That’s quite a lot of pie, my dear, I baked it for everyone!”

Sans took the plate off the child, “s’alright, tori, i got it,” he gave it to the kid, “there ya go, kiddo.”

“Sans!”

He grinned sheepishly. “what? kid’s gotta eat.”

Toriel stared at him for a long second before shaking her head and striding out the room, leaving Frisk to eat and entire pie for themselves.

“Wow, Frisk, that’s impressive,” Undyne remarked, sitting back down on the sofa, “But only impressive if you _finish it! NGAAHH!”_

Papyrus crossed his arms, “The human will find this task easy! Frisk has eaten numerous plates of my delicious pasta without any problems at all!”

Sans snorted, “dunno bro, that’s kinda different.” Frisk meanwhile seemed to be having no problems digging into the blueberry pie.

Since being on the surface and mingling with the humans, it opened up a literal whole new world of opportunities for the monsters. Toriel and Papyrus still stuck to pasta and pie—different variations nonetheless, but it’s the thought that counts.

By the time Frisk had finished eating the entire thing on their own, Toriel came back out and sat in her rocking chair.

“Oh my, you _were_ hungry,” she proclaimed while sitting, “Do you want more?” Frisk, luckily, shook their head.

Toriel smiled, relieved, “Good.”

After a few moments, Frisk continued to stare at their feet, before pointing to the garden.

“You want to go outside?”

They nodded.

Undyne spoke up, “Let’s _all_ go outside!” but Sans immediately butted in.

“let’s just leave the kid to have some peace and quiet for a while, y’know?”

Toriel, Undyne and Papyrus all turned their heads at him. He shrugged in dismissal. Strangely, the kid simply stood up and walked out into the garden unprompted, closing the door behind them and walking out of sight from the glass.

Everyone watched the window, apprehensive and worried for their human friend.

Silently, Sans followed suit, standing up and apprehensively heading towards the door. Papyrus was about to question him, but Undyne pulled on his shoulder before he could speak and shook her head.

Outside, Sans found the kid around the side of the house, sitting cross-legged on the grass against the brick walls. It was cloudy and grey, seemingly like it was going to rain soon. He sighed, and approached the kid.

Frisk looked up as Sans knelt down to them.

“heya kiddo, what’s up?”

Frisk simply watched him for a moment as if wanting to say something, but shrugged, gaze dropping to their feet.

“I…”

Sans peered up to meet Frisk’s eyes at their first spoken word to him. Frisk tensed up, beginning to rock in place slightly.

“hey, take it easy, it’s alright,” he said, not wanting to scare them back into silence.

Slowly, Frisk pulled back one of their blue sleeves, wincing as the red blistered skin brushed against their clothes, eyes darting around the area in angst.

Sans groused silent curses under his breath, _so the kid isn’t immune to the effects of the timeline._

“It…” Frisk cleared their throat and adverted their gaze, “it hurts like hell. Every second of every day. It’s all I feel. I tried to ignore it, but…”

Gritting his teeth, Sans called upon his healing magic and put a hand over their arm, blue wisps floating in circular motions from his eye, “so, when did it come back?”

“The day after Alphys brought me in…”

“what?” Sans frowned at them in near anger, “the day after? you’ve had this for 2 days?”

Frisk shook their head and agitatedly started crawling backwards, “Sorry, I didn’t want to annoy anyone. You’ve got the same thing too and it wouldn’t be fair if I complained about mine if—”

“i told you to come straight to me if this reoccurred.”

“I know but—” Frisk’s heart was racing in their throat.

“you don’t know what could have happened if you let this continue.”

Frisk swallowed hard and stumbled back, tripping over as they tried to get to their feet. They yanked their arm out of Sans’ hand and tried to make a hasty escape, breathing rapidly and hoarsely. The room was spinning.

Sans immediately dropped his demeanour, and stood up to meet them, “hey, hey, hey, sit down. i’m not angry.” His blue eye dimmed, and he forced a half smile. Putting a hand gently on their shoulder, Frisk jolted and started edging away, eyes wide and stumbling everywhere.

_for the love of…_

“Frisk, sit down, now.” he said more sternly, only for the kid to nearly fall into the wall while hyperventilating. Their eyes darted around the garden, making pitiful whimpering sounds as if a wounded animal. They shielded their body from him, as if afraid of being hurt.

“Tori!” he yelled, hoping the old lady in the house would overhear. Frisk’s breaths were sawing in and out as they slid down the wall.

Mere seconds later, the door opened to reveal Toriel peeking out, then immediately gasping and running over. “My child! What’s wrong? Are they hurt? Did they fall over?”

“nah, think it’s more a panic attack,” he reaffirmed, locking eyes with the child who was still going, stepping slowly closer, “you been having nightmares too?”

Frisk’s eyes widened in surprise, which only confirmed his beliefs.

_so, I have nightmares about gaster, Frisk has nightmares about me. great._

“Oh dear, my poor child! You must breathe slower. Whatever are you panicking about?”

Sans and Frisk met eyes, one concerned and one filled with pure unbridled terror.

“I can’t—I can’t—”

Toriel looks equally as surprised as Sans was earlier to hear Frisk’s voice, perhaps it was on accident? But she quickly reclaimed control and took hold of the child’s wrists.

“Frisk, my dear, breathe with me, match my breathing, slow and steady, do you understand?”

Sans could only watch as Frisk’s eyes stared intensely at Toriel, nodding quickly to her request and trying to obey. He felt some sympathy. He had had panic attacks over Gaster before, since having the nightmares. But being a child, what they must be seeing of him must be mentally so much worse.

Frisk’s hands were shaking and fluttering in Toriel’s grasp, but eventually the rapid gasping begun to slow down. Sans drew in a long sigh of relief. He was never that good at these sorts of things, he was lucky Toriel was here.

“There you are, you poor thing. Goodness, what could have caused such a fright?”

Frisk remained silent, but quickly side-glanced Sans, who just stared solemnly at the floor.

“Sans? Do you have an explanation?” Toriel tried again to get an answer.

“like I said Tori, think it was a panic attack.”

“What about?”

“now, that’s between me and the kid.”

Toriel narrowed her eyes at him, but he just shrugged and slumped down the wall, exhausted. Damn, and he wasn’t the one expelling all that energy.

“ _Well,_ if it’s a private matter I won’t intervene, but Frisk is going straight to bed now. They must be fatigued and in need of sleep.”

Frisk groaned, muttering “I don’t want to!”

“Well, you are, come along!” Toriel stated sternly, taking Frisk’s hand and pulling them towards the door. Sans sniggered as he walked along behind them.

Ah, parents.

* * *

Another week had passed.

There was a routine going now. Gaster would heal Sans, Sans would heal Frisk, Frisk would try to make excuses, rinse and repeat.

They met again in the large garden, while Toriel tended to the flowers.

“Sans,” Frisk mumbled, gaze averting to the floor, “I can’t do this anymore.”

The small skeleton narrowed his eye sockets, “can’t do what, pal?”

“….This,” they gestured to their own body, “I can’t deal with this, I can’t deal with that,” and then pointed to Sans’ wound, “It’s not right.”

Sans could feel himself getting worked up over the prospect of what _this_ could be, “sorry, kid, i don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s all gone wrong…this isn’t what I wanted,” Frisk took a deep breath as they noticed Sans’ face fall blank, “The injuries, the nightmares, I…everything isn’t right.”

“it’s fine.”

“It’s not fine! Are you really trying to—!” Frisk stopped when they saw Toriel looking over, their voice so loud she could hear and was probably curious. They tried again in a quieter tone, “…Are you really trying to tell me your ideal world is pain and nightmares?”

Sans shrugged, “nah, it’s hopes and dreams.”

Frisk clenched their jaw in frustration, balling their fists. Sans grew unusually quiet, a fixed look of concentration on his face.

“This is supposed to be a true pacifist timeline…everything should be perfect,” Frisk gazed into the eyes of Sans that was slowly going from blue to black as he began to realise what they intended to do, “I want to try and fix it…”

Eyes empty, he demanded, “don’t you dare.”

They insisted, “But if I could just—”

“i said don’t you dare.”

“I’m not gonna reset—”

“i said no.”

Frisk pursed their lips together, grinding their teeth in aggravation. They had a plan and wanted to stick to it.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…”

Slowly, Sans’ eyes returned back in their sockets and he sighed. Frightening Frisk clearly wasn’t the way to go anymore. He gave them a comforting hug. “look, kid, this is just the way it is. there’s no set-in-stone way to do this anymore. ever since you left the underground you should’ve known that not everything is going to be perfect.”

Frisk stared at the ground, not releasing the hug, as if it was the last time they would be able to do it.

“and if either of us die due to this, that’s just the way it is. the world will go on.”

Frisk blinked harshly, trying to keep back the onslaught of emotion threatening to pour out. “That’s why I have to do this.”

Sans didn’t even have time to turn his eyes black again before he quickly said, “don’t you dare. DON’T YOU DARE—!”

But they had already disappeared.

* * *

_To be continued…_

* * *

**A/N:** hi! thank you for reading this and for any kudos!! also I want to say to everyone reading right now, i know our situation with whats going on lately can seem pretty grim but we'll get through this, with a bit of binge reading and probably a lot of unnecessary takeouts, we'll get through it. be strong and stay determined! x


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk tries to fix the timeline, but seemed to have made things much worse. There's something else. Or someone...?

**_a/n: sorry for the late update, been in a bad place lately but I've finished this chapter finally. it's angst heavy, and trigger warning for panic attacks. e n j o y_ **

* * *

_“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…”  
“and if either of us die due to this, that’s just the way it is. the world will go on.”  
Frisk blinked harshly, trying to keep back the onslaught of emotion threatening to pour out. “That’s why I have to do this.”  
Sans didn’t even have time to turn his eyes black again before he quickly said, “don’t you dare. DON’T YOU DARE—!” _

_But they had already disappeared._

* * *

Sans teleported back into the CORE, making a beeline straight for the timeline observation screens. Gaster was already there, a look of mild surprise on his face.

“Sans, have you seen—”

“the kid’s screwing with the timeline again,” Sans interrupted him urgently, jabbing a finger towards the screens and ignoring Gaster’s stunned expression, “keep an eye socket on it.”

Gaster cleared his throat and rectified his posture, “I have. There has been huge fluctuations in our timeline, I’m unsure of what at this moment.”

“is it in danger of corrupting?”

“No, the changes seem to be logical to the timeline. Or at least, the human apparently knows what they’re doing.”

Sans forced his rigid limbs to relax. “one wrong move and this entire timeline is corrupt,” he fiddled with his fingers in anxiety, “they’ll reset, everyone gets stuck down here again. and you…”

Gaster turned his attention towards him, narrowing his eyes in interest.

“you’ll go back to being non-existent. or go back to your own timeline, at least.”

There was a long staring contest between the two skeletons. “Indeed.”

_don’t screw this up, kid. don’t screw this up. please._

Gaster watched Sans carefully and raised his chin in curiosity, “And why has the human done this?”

Sans slumped his shoulders, “their burns are still coming back. had to heal ‘em. they didn’t want to keep going like this, i guess.”

Gaster exhaled harshly, but approached the smaller skeleton, “And does your wound require healing?” his right eye glowed orange in preparation. Sans turned away.

“nah, not right now. need to keep an eye on the timeline.”

The orange glow dissipated, but Gaster watched him wearily. “You require healing daily to avoid your condition deteriorating.”

“not now, G,” Sans insisted, keeping a firm eye on the screen. The readings were fluctuating rapidly. Almost the same as they always were minutes before the timeline was reset—except nothing was happening. It was odd situation to experience.

Suddenly, to his right, there was a hissing sound. Sans spun around to face the sound urgently, a white glow emitting from the corner of the room. It was growing rapidly, encompassing more and more of the room every second.

“oh boy.”

Gaster was apparently unalarmed by the growing fog and remained at his post, “The changes are becoming out of control. Distortions left and right. I haven’t seen anything like it.”

Sans kept his eye on the white light, wary of how it was beginning to catch up to the other scientist. “you had better back off now, G, we don’t know what that’ll do to you.”

Gaster turned his attention towards the light and glared at it as if it was his worst enemy. The light surrounded the majority of the room, beginning to encompass his feet.

“Gaster! get the hell away from there!” while Gaster seemingly wanted to challenge it, Sans stepped forward and grabbed his arm, only for it to encompass both of them rapidly.

Everything went white.

* * *

…

…

“huh.”

Either he was staring into the light, or it was the ceiling. And it couldn’t be the ceiling because Gaster’s lab didn’t have a white ceiling, and he was just inside aforementioned lab, so…

Sans scrunched his eyes shut, groaning through tired teeth. Perhaps going back to sleep was a better idea. This blackness felt much better than the white light he had been staring into the past 10 years. It was so…bright…so…so…light…and…

“Sans?”

He opened his eyes unwillingly, seeing Gaster’s face looming over him. Shutting his eyes again, he smirked. “so you ain’t dead yet. cool.”

…silence…

“I am surprised too. I had accepted my fate when the light began surrounding me.”

Sans grunted in response, remaining half-asleep on what he assumed was the floor.

“The timeline is intact, at least.”

… _oh._

“where’s the kid?” his eyes shot open in realisation, “how long have i been out?”

“The human?”

At that moment, a melodic ringing was coming from Sans’ coat. From the floor, he grunted and pulled the phone out his pocket. “yeah, hold on a sec.” he checked the screen, “huh, it’s tori,”

Gaster raised his eyebrows at him but gestured for him to answer it.

“hey tori,” Sans mumbled, making no effort to move despite Gaster still staring disappointedly at him, and eventually walking off, “what’s—what—” he was cut off by loud panicked babbling on the phone.

“Oh, Sans!” Toriel’s strained worried voice came through the speaker, “Frisk has just ran into our house in tears! They ran up into their room and won’t speak to me, but I can hear them crying! What has happened? Is it something to do with you—? I mean, do you know why—”

damn it, kid. what have you done now?

“yeah, I know what you meant. i’ll be right there,”

“Alright, but perhaps you should wait another—”

_Whoosh._

“so, where are they?”

Toriel jumped in surprise, “Sans! Don’t do that!” the small skeleton simply grinned sheepishly at her; using his powers was probably gonna cause a problem in the future, “We already talked about this!”

He shrugged, “seemed important. so, where’s the kid?”

Toriel sighed in resignation, “They’re in their room still…but I don’t think they’re in a state to-”

“nah, it’s fine,” Sans shrugged her off and made his way up the stairs. Whatever the kid had done to the timeline, must’ve been pretty bad considering the all-encompassing white light.

_Knock knock knock._

There was a subtle sniff, but then a voice that tried to be stern, “Go away mom, I said I didn’t want to talk.”

Sans ran a hand over his face, “yeah, no, it’s me. lemme in.”

There was a deafening silence, and for a moment Sans was beginning to think the kid was just gonna leave him standing there. Well, at least he wasn’t on the floor anymore.

To his surprise, the door opened slightly with no further argument, the gap small enough so that only the kid’s flushed face peaked through.

“What is it?”

He clenched his jaw, “you know why I’m here.” The kid looked crestfallen.

“I…” they took a deep breath, “I don’t want to talk about it. Just leave me alone.”

Sans snorted, “either you tell me now or i come in there by force. i know you’ve done _something_ and you’re not getting away with ‘i don’t feel up to it’.”

Frisk’s eyes widened slightly in panic, “Okay, okay! Don’t blow the door off its hinges, jeez,” they opened the door wider so Sans could walk in, then immediately closed it.

Turning around, Frisk swallowed hard when turning to face Sans, who was just standing against the wall with his arms crossed.

“Um…”

“so? start talking.”

Frisk took a moment to prepare herself for an explanation, eyes dropping to the ground and refusing to meet Sans’ eerie gaze.

“Okay, well, firstly, just know I was trying to fix things, okay?”

“go on.”

Frisk bit at their lips and tried to think of how to explain, “Well…I…tried to…improve it...so…I just...changed some things…and…well…I tried…but…”

“but?”

“I wanted to fix the wound things first, but…I was worried I would mess it up and make it worse or corrupt the timeline and…I don’t know…I needed to find out why it happened…but…”

“just get to the point, kid.”

“I…made a backup…a clone…but…I…I saw…” Frisk froze, eyes wide as if reliving a traumatic memory.

Sans unfolded his arms in tension. “kid? Frisk?”

Frisk burst into tears again, “I tried to fix it! Really! I wasn’t going to do anything bad but, once I copied it, I saw…well…now the old one is gone…and…and…I can’t…I lost…I can’t do it anymore.”

Sans sighed patiently, “well, you don’t have to finish the story right now—”

“No! No, that’s not what I meant, I mean…I can’t…don’t have control anymore,“ they took a deep breath after getting the confession out, “I can’t save or reload or edit anything. I’m…stuck here now. I can’t do anything. I can’t fix it anymore.”

Inwardly, Sans was trying to hold back the overwhelming sensation of relief that the kid lost their powers.

Did this mean…they can’t reset anymore?

No more resets…no more timelines?

So…

“this is it?”

Frisk nodded, thankful that Sans bypassed the mentioned of _what_ they saw, “This is it…”

There was a sour expression on Sans’ face, “so, this is a new timeline, huh?”

Frisk nodded sadly, “Sorry…it was only meant to be backup in case I corrupted it but someo—but the original was destroyed and this is the new one.”

Sans forced a shaky exhale, but was also somewhat relieved, “well, it wasn’t a reset. we’re still here, aren’t we?” he gestured towards the window, and the view of the garden and blue sky that complimented it, “we’re still on the surface. just picking up where we’ve left off. or at least I hope,” the pupils in his eyes disappeared to emphasize his point.

Frisk gulped and looked away.

Another long-stretching silence passed the moments by, before the sound of Sans’ sighing heavily broke the tension.

“look, kid, i guess this is kinda positive in a way. don’t have to worry ‘bout you resetting anymore, right?”

Frisk forced a fake smile and nodded, “Yeah…right.”

He narrowed his eyes, “there something you ain’t telling me?”

Frisk shook their head rapidly. Too rapidly. Their stomach was tied up in knots, clutching at it and sweating profusely. Anxiety was crippling them.

“hmm,” he stared at them, noting the vacant expression in their eyes, hands trembling… “you’re a real bad liar.”

In return Frisk could only offer a nervous smile and hope it was enough to convince Sans to leave them alone. They didn’t want to press into it.

Frisk pressed their palms into the trousers to expel some of the nervous tension building up and starting edging away. “I need to go now,” they said with as much certainty as they could muster. “I’ll come back later, I swear,” and with that they turned and ran, hurling open the door and sprinting down the stairs.

Sans could only watch with a deep frown on his face.

“welp,” he pulled out his phone and swiftly called Papyrus’ number with ease, practically having memorized it. Of course, it didn’t take long to get a reply.

“Sans! Brother! I just had the weirdest dream!” it was like his bro was watching his phone, waiting for it to ring. He probably was.

“yea, i think we all had the same ‘dream’. just checking to make sure you’re ok.”

“Of course I’m okay! I’m always okay! I was just watching the television with Undyne! They have a show about brutally destroying people with large bouncy apparatus! Humans are savage!”

Sans snorted, “i think you mean an obstacle course, bro. humans like shows like that. competition and prizes or something. they’re not broadcasting a mass murder.”

“It’s very interesting! Undyne and I were thinking of making our own human destroying course like on TV!”

“got bored of the royal guard already?”

“No! I am a multitasking skeleton! And my priorities! Are! With! Guarding…?”

He grinned, “…that’s great, pap…anyways gotta go, have fun.”

“Goodbye brother!”

Sans hung up the phone and sighed. He thanked whatever deity was out there that he didn’t have to live through another reset. Everyone was happy, and everyone was here.

* * *

Frisk vacantly stared off into space, sagging back in Toriel’s armchair away from everyone else.

“We should totally have our own television show, I would be the _perfect_ fitness instructor! _NGAHH!”_ Undyne jumped down into a crouched pose and showed off her scaly non-existent muscles with an arm flex.

“Well…that sounds great, but what would I do? The great Papyrus needs screen time too!”

“Uh…” Undyne rose up straight again, “You can be my…uh…cooking…assistant…yeah.”

“Yes! Then everyone around the world will know how great my skills are! I will be world renowned! All thanks to your fitness television show!”

Frisk blinked nonchalantly at the 2 figures running around in front of the telly. They completely forgot what they were even watching, their eyes lost in a gaze loosely focused on the edge of the screen.

_I really don’t want to be here right now. But if I go upstairs, I’ll be forced to talk to Sans._

_He’s probably standing there, waiting for me. Well too bad, I’m staying here._

“What’ya think, kid?”

Frisk startled and gaped up at Undyne, not listening to what she was saying, “Uh…” uneasily, they offered two thumbs up and a fake smile.

“Nice! So then we can….”

Frisk stopped listening again. Their eyelids felt heavy, body fatigued and feeling hollowed out, unwilling to move. They were quite comfortable to just sit there and do nothing.

Time seemed to slow down as their eyes began drifting.

Before they could shut, Frisk’s eyes shot open at the image they thought they saw on the TV. Heart pounding, Frisk inhaled sharply and tried to focus on the telly again.

But it was nothing. Just another stupid reality show Papyrus was watching.

Their shoulders dropped in relief, although now they were tense and their guard was up. The voices of their friends became drowned out in comparison to the intense focus Frisk had on the TV, not daring to look away.

After a solid five minutes of staring, Frisk quickly looked towards the porch door and back again.

No scary image on the TV.

Then, for good measure, they tried again.

It was still just three people having an interview.

So…it was safe then. _Just my imagination._

Now Frisk definitely wasn’t planning to go back to their room, fearing being alone with their thoughts.

_Why the hell am I so jumpy?_

_Nothing ever scares me._

_I’m supposed to be fearless._

_So why…?_

Lost in their thoughts for a few seconds—the television flashed vividly among black and white static before going back to video again. Frisk jumped frightened out of the armchair and backed away from the TV, leaving the other two to look at the child perplexed.

Undyne laughed in bemusement, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Frisk!”

Eyes wide, Frisk stared at her, as Undyne’s face dropped when she realised the kid was being serious.

Papyrus began searching over the intimidating chair, “Did you see a spider? Is the human afraid of spiders?”

Frisk shook their head and pointed at the television apprehensively, too stunned to speak again.

“What, you’re scared of the telly?” Undyne snorted and shoved a spear metres away from the screen, “Didn’t Sans just say this is a gameshow? You’re a scaredy-cat Frisk!”

Papyrus discovered a grand total of nothing from his chair search party, “I couldn’t find any spiders! Were you hallucinating?!”

It was meant as a playful joke, but Frisk felt their eyes suddenly well up and they made a beeline for the door before anyone noticed. Flinging the door open, Frisk ran out but bumped into something hard. And blue. And _Sans_.

All of a sudden their legs started trembling. They hated themselves for how weak they were being. They spun back around, tears threatening to escape while clenching their fists. But a strong bony hand pulled on their shoulder. “nope. sit down.”

Frisk’s eyes wasn’t sure whether to be looking at the television, looking at Sans, looking for an escape or looking at Undyne and Papyrus. But they sure knew their eyes were rapidly trying to avoid all of them at once. It was getting too much now.

“Human? What’s the matter?” Frisk could vaguely hear Papyrus calling out to them but it was too late. Too damn late. Again. This was happening again. The one thing that couldn’t be _fixed._

Frisk sharply inhaled and stumbled mindlessly over to something solid—a sofa, collapsing onto the seat and hugging pillow cushion, wheezing rapidly into the soft velvet. The sound of the television was no longer exciting music, but now just a high-pitched ringing in their ear. They sobbed into the cushion, no will inside them wanting to control the trembling from their numb arms.

After what felt like minutes of strained whimpering into the pillow, Frisk felt the seat dip.

_Don’t kill me don’t kill me don’t kill me don’t kill me don’t kill me don’t kill me don’t kill me…_

An estranged, separate voice entered their head. **_Wow, Frisk. I’m disappointed with how weak you really are._**

Frisk gagged and threw the pillow across the room, their entire vision a blurry mess, blinking rapidly at the stinging tears in their eyes.

 _Here you go again. See you on the other side, idiot –_ a detached but deranged voice chortled in their head.

Their vision became obstructed by two legs that were too close for comfort, blocking view of the television which made them sick with worry more. _What if the vision is on TV now and I can’t see?_

Frisk frantically kicked and screamed relentlessly on the sofa, all rational thought gone from the buzzing and their own heartbeat thrashing in their ears. Frisk vaguely realised the buzzing was actually someone trying to talk to them, but they couldn’t make out the words. They were too busy suffocating.

_I’ve never had it this bad before. What the hell is wrong with me!? I’m going crazy! I’ve finally done it. I’ve lost it and I’ve gone crazy. I’m totally getting killed for this._

Suddenly, the world started tipping against their will, the legs disappearing and now all they could see was the ceiling. There was a soft blue light coming from the corner of their eye, forming into tiny wisps that disappeared into the white ceiling. Frisk managed to focus on that, focus on the blue wisps. They focused on it with all their will as they didn’t want to focus on anything else.

Soon, Frisk slowly became more aware of their breathing, the ability to control each breath was coming back to them. As the numbness in their extremities faded, they began to feel a hand on their chest that was holding them down, and the buzzing noise in their ears soon formed back into reality. Frisk exhaled a long shaky sigh for the first time in a long time.

“there ya go, buddy,” they heard Sans’ voice say from the left of them, “there ya go.”

Swallowing hard, Frisk pulled their head to the side, noticing Sans and his eye lit up blue, still glowing and forming wisps. Their mind still latched onto it like a lifeline.

“Damn, kid…” Undyne’s voice worriedly appeared from the right, “That was one hell of a panic attack. Those becoming more frequent now?”

Frisk wanted to nod yes, but they couldn’t find the strength within themselves to do it.

“someone call tori and get her home,” Sans said, lifting his hand away now Frisk wasn’t violently thrashing around screaming incoherent nonsense.

“I’ll do it!” Papyrus piped up, presumably walking away to get his phone.

Frisk forced an exhale again and closed their eyes, glad to hell that episode was over.

* * *

To be continued........

* * *

:-) oh dear. Frisk is pretty unwell. if onlyyy i didnt keep making them go through hell. oh weellll


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is keeping their inner demons secret from everyone, Toriel demands answers.

_“Damn, kid…” Undyne’s voice worriedly appeared from the right, “That was one hell of a panic attack. Those becoming more frequent now?”  
Frisk wanted to nod yes, but they couldn’t find the strength within themselves to do it.  
“someone call tori and get her home,” Sans said, lifting his hand away now Frisk wasn’t violently thrashing around screaming incoherent nonsense.  
“I’ll do it!” Papyrus piped up, presumably walking away to get his phone.  
Frisk forced an exhale again and closed their eyes, glad to hell that episode was over._

* * *

**A/N:** From here on I’m gonna be occasionally referring to frisk as a she; using ‘they’ was making my sentences pretty awkwardly written when there was more than 1 person in the room and my writing didn’t feel right for me. Thanks for understanding x)

* * *

Toriel gently patted Frisk’s head, worriedly looking at the small child. “My poor thing, I wonder what had upset them so…is that the whole story?”

Sans, who had just finished explaining the entire ordeal, nodded meekly, “yep. Pap and I are pretty sure she’s seeing things that aren’t there,” he exhaled with a smirk, “and Undyne just thinks the Frisk’s gone mad.”

Toriel kept all her focus on Frisk and added nervously, “This is awful…I cannot begin to imagine what they’re going through,”

“yeah. sorry for bringing you home from the school like this. kid needed their mom I guess.”

“How on earth did you get them to calm down?”

He pondered this for a moment, “kid reacted to my healing magic. i noticed she were focusing intently on it so i carried on. i’m gonna need to go back to gaster to get another healing boost. took a lot outta me.”

Toriel turned to face him, “Thank you, Sans. You were wonderful today. Especially to risk your own health for Frisk.”

Sans shrugged it off, “nah, it’s nothing, tori.”

Toriel sighed, glancing over to the unconscious child and gritting her teeth. “Sans…bad things are happening to my child all too often. The panic attacks especially. I need to know what’s happening. I cannot ignore this any longer. If possible, I would like to help.”

Sans’ shoulders visibly dropped, as if knowing that statement was to come soon. “heh. you really wanna know, huh.”

“I do.”

“well…” he ran a hand over his face in exasperation, “the kid has the ability to mess with timelines, you remember me telling you that when we came to the surface?”

“Of course. I did not believe you at first, but, considering their power, their determination to bring us here…it must make sense.”

“yeah. well, these so-called timelines, someone’s been messing with them, and it ain’t the kid. ‘til today.”

Toriel gasped, “Frisk destroyed the timeline? Why on earth would they do that?”

He snickered, “nah, that’s not what I meant. she tried to fix things. the other timeline we’re merging with, it was…a genocide run.” Sans paused, allowing Toriel time to process the information as her eyes grew wide in shock.

“Oh goodness…is that why…?”

“yea, i had this wound cos i was killed in the other timeline, when the kid faced me. and they had the burns, cos I killed them with my blasters. over and over again. ‘til they won.”

Toriel gaped at him wordlessly, trying to stutter a sentence together, “I…I…”

“ah don’t worry about it. i’ve said too much anyway.”

“I am so sorry, Sans. For asking, especially. I just do not wish to see my child hurt again.”

“nah, i get it, trust me. i’d kill if someone hurt my bro. and that’s not an exaggeration. as you well know.”

Toriel clamped her mouth shut as Sans’ eyes went empty at the mention of his brother. “Should we be worried? Will they do it again?”

Sans heavily exhaled, “it wasn’t our Frisk. not the one we know. don’t worry.”

“And what now?” she held Frisk close to her chest again, “If Frisk is seeing things, what do we do?”

“well, i’d say wait for ‘em to wake up, then get Alphys to pay a home visit. take it easy for a while, y’know?”

“Of course,” Toriel gently rolled the child on their back again, “I will stay here until they awaken.”

With that, Sans stood up from kneeling on the floor and made his way to do the door. “cya, tori. call me if you need me,” he winked, “i’ll be here so fast you won’t see me coming.”

Toriel sat in her chair and smiled, “Goodbye, Sans, and thank you.”

As the door shut, Toriel sighed softly and watched over her child sleeping peacefully on the coach. “Poor thing…” she thought to herself.

* * *

_Whoosh._

“hey, G.”

“Sans,” the tall skeleton glanced up from his desk, “You were gone for longer than I anticipated.”

“yeah, well, something came up.”

“The human child, I presume,” he frowned and stared at the younger skeleton’s chest, sensing something was wrong. “Sans, your soul is depleted.” he reached out a hand and summoned it forth.

“heh, yeah, it’s nothing,” he squirmed uncomfortably with his soul out of his body, covering his anxiety with a forced nervous smile.

Gaster cornered him towards a seat and waited for him to sit down. “Did you use magic?”

“uh…yeah. maybe a little.”

A frustrated growl, “Sans, you _know_ that is dangerous in your current condition! Had you used any more, it could have killed you,” Gaster’s own eye glowed orange as healing magic surrounded them both. He knelt down beside him.

“you didn’t see her, G. nothin’ would calm em down,” Sans exhaled quietly as Gaster’s magic fed his soul, “tried everything, in the end the only thing i could do was use magic.”

Gaster considered him, “Well, healing magic does have a sedating effect,” he couldn’t hide a small smirk; watching Sans drowsily blinking, fatigued himself.

“ya know what…i think you’re right. might even just…take a nap…right here.”

Gaster huffed, pleased with himself, “Indeed.”

Of course, Sans was always tired anyway, so no doubt the sedating effect would be twice as hard on him.

In curiosity, Gaster lifted the sleeping skeleton’s white shirt and looked for the laceration wound. To his surprise, it was gone. Not even a scar to show where it had been.

It seems that whatever the human had done to the timeline, it had corrected the injury error; but Sans’ magic still depleted rapidly. Gaster would stay there healing him until his HP had restored.

….

From the depths of heavy slumber, Frisk pulled herself into alertness, exhaustion weighting heavy on their body. They couldn’t feel their arms or legs, but their back ached from laying on the sofa.

Then, she remembered.

Her eyelids cracked open slightly, wincing as the daylight’s beams burst through the window and attacked their eyes. Gradually, the noise of her surroundings began to kick in, as words became more intelligible, her brain patching sentences together.

“I-I haven’t seen a-anything like it…I don’t understand…”

“It’s alright, Alphys. I do not understand what Frisk has done, but I’m sure it was for a good reason.”

“Oh! H-here she is! Um, hello Frisk!”

Frisk blinked, narrowing her eyes in confusion. It was still Toriel’s house, and she was still on the sofa. Alphys was sitting in front of her, Toriel kneeling behind.

“Hello, my child. How are you feeling?”

Frisk sluggishly gave a thumbs down and promptly shut her eyes again.

“Um, exhaustion is quite normal. B-but the matter with their soul is new to me. I think Sans has a better understanding in soul magic. I-I think it’s best if we did more tests to make sure t-they don’t fall down,” Alphys nervously scratched her head, “U-uh, if that’s okay with you, of course!”

Interested, Frisk opened their eyes again, to see Toriel looking crestfallen. “I see…you are saying there is a chance Frisk will die?”

Alphys waved her hands around in alarm, “I-I don’t want you think that! It’s j-just a possibility and I’m probably being pessimistic again…”

Toriel looked away, nervous, before addressing the child. “Frisk, dear, what have you done to your soul?”

Internally, Frisk began to panic, “I…I don’t know.”

_I do know but I don’t want to say._

Alphys chuckled nervously, “Um…Frisk, I-I can tell you’re lying, I have your vitals here…”

Frisk remained silent, watching Alphys observe her tensely.

“It’s…split in half. Y-you only have half a soul. I…don’t understand how. Or why. O-or even why you’re still alive. It’s just impossible…”

Pursing their lips into a thin line, Frisk tried to push back the memories of the vision she was having just hours before.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, sorry…”

Alphys looked nervous, but Toriel narrowed her eyes, “Frisk, do you understand the danger you are in? If Alphys cannot fix it, there is a chance you will die.”

Frisk shook her head, “No, no, I know, but…I just…can’t…”

“A-and, it’s not just me,” Alphys piped up hopefully, “There’s always Sans, he knows more about this than me. A-and if that fails, there’s Gaster. H-he’s amazing.”

Toriel sighed, “But not so good with children.”

“Um…yeah, but it gives Frisk a fighting chance.”

“Alphys, mom, its fine,” Frisk insisted, sitting up from the couch and feeling a lump in their throat when both of them turned to look at her. “I promise I’ll be ok. You’re just overreacting.”

“Of course, but you must understand my dear that we do worry about you!”

“Y-yes, Toriel is right, we do c-care about you a lot Frisk and…”

The rest of their words fell onto deaf ears when Frisk thought she saw something out the corner of her eye. She swiftly spun her head around, but there was nothing behind her except the back end of the sofa.

“Frisk? Are you even listening to us?”

Sighing, Frisk turned back aro—

_There._

“Mom! Get down!” Frisk startled at the glitching figure behind them, it was standing so close that it was odd Toriel couldn’t feel them behind her.

“What?” Toriel leapt up and whirled around, fire magic in her hands ready to attack.

But nobody came.

Alphys stared at Frisk sheepishly.

“Um…”

Toriel slowly turned back around, tilting her head dubiously, “…Frisk, dear, are you quite alright?”

“I…” Frisk froze in place, tugging at her hair humiliated, “…I was…just joking!” she offered a small laugh. Alphys returned the chortle but it was apparent by the look on her face that she was suspicious.

“Frisk…” Toriel began in a demanding tone, “If you are seeing things again you must tell me immediately.”

Flustered, Frisk cried, “I’m not! I was just joking and you took it the wrong way! Can’t I do anything anymore without everyone getting suspicious!?”

Alphys tapped her finger on the monitor repeatedly in thought. “Hum…maybe we should go and see Sans and Gaster now,” she offered, standing up and glancing over to Toriel, signifying for her to follow the idea, “After all, we can’t do much else in the living room!”

Toriel got the messages and arose also, “I agree, we are simply wasting time in here.”

Shaking her head, Frisk began storming out of the room in irritation, “I’m staying here!” she promptly hurried up the stairs.

“Frisk! Get down here this instant!” Toriel yelled out the door and strode after her, leaving Alphys to sigh and tap around on the tablet as a distraction.

“Aww man…” Alphys mumbled to herself.

* * *

Back in Gaster’s lab, Sans was still sleeping, although his HP was nearly restored. Gaster had been sitting in the same spot for the better part of an hour trying to fix him.

When his soul was replenished, Gaster’s eye finally stopped glowing and he sighed, exhausted.

“Sans, you can wake up now.”

Grunting, the small skeleton slowly came to at his name, seeing Gaster’s face in front of him and nearly jumping out of his skin—if he had one.

“jeez, gaster, i nearly used my magic on you,” Sans pulled himself forward from his slouched position and took in his surroundings. Still the CORE, then.

“Well don’t. I’ve just finished restoring it. There is no point wasting it on a simple spontaneous reaction.”

“alright, alright, learn to take a joke, jeez,” Sans narrowed his eye sockets at him and leapt up off the chair, making his way over to the timeline monitors.

“So. What happened with the human child?”

Sans snorted, “ya mean Frisk? didn’t I already tell you? they had a panic attack.”

Gaster straightened his coat, beginning to get frustrated with him, “ _Yes,_ I know that. I was enquiring as to why. You simply teleported back in here, vaguely mentioned the child being out of control and fell asleep,” his speaking was stilted

Sans couldn’t help but laugh at his retort, “you make me sound like an ass, G. well, I dunno what happened. the kid was seeing things, freaked out, the only thing that would calm them was my healing magic. i already told you this.”

The doors whooshed open at that, Alphys pacing inside seemingly visibly stressed.

Sans glanced over to her, “heya, what’s up?” Gaster remained silent, observing.

“I-it’s Frisk, their soul, it…it’s split in two. I-I know what you’re thinking, I thought so too, but they seem fine, they’re not ill or fallen down, they just seem upset…”

Gaster nearly choked on the disgusting but mandatory coffee-for-unwanted-social-occasions he was drinking and stared at Alphys. A split soul?

“upset?” Sans asked instead.

“Well…Toriel and I both saw her freak out over something that didn’t exist…she told Toriel to watch out behind her and there was nothing there…when we tried to talk about it she just…stormed off upstairs.”

“huh. wonder if these visions she’s getting is something to do with the split soul?”

“I think the better question is; where is the other half of Frisk’s soul?” Gaster interrupted, suddenly extremely interested in this conversation, “Another monster wouldn’t have absorbed it. The human would have had to give it away willingly.”

Alphys nodded, “Y-yeah, and I’ve checked it with my lab before I came here,” she whipped out her tablet and starting sifting through results, “It corresponds to the timeline alteration, so that white light…”

Sans for once had his full attention on the conversation, “hold up, are you saying there wasn’t a new timeline. it was an alteration?”

“I-I can’t think of any other possibility. Looking at the charts here, Frisk’s soul split at exactly the same time that the timeline was altered.”

His eye sockets became empty, “so, she lied.”

Gaster stepped in, “I once again must bring your attention to this matter; what, or _who_ has the other half of Frisk’s soul?”

Sans grunted, sockets empty in near anger, “i dunno, but considering they haven’t bothered to tell us yet, i presume no-one good.”

* * *

To be Continued......

* * *

i've had this sitting on my desktop for like 3 days lmao in the end i just submitted this, it was a decent ending to the chapter. i hope y'all are coping with everything alright, i sure as hell am struggling to get out of bed now lmaooo love to u all and stay determined <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cracks start to show in Frisk's behaviour as their violent tendencies shine through. Still, Papyrus tries his hardest to be their bestest friend ever! Sans is angry.

**_A/N: More quarantine writing stuff! I hope everyone is keeping well. Thanks for reading!! It means a lot to me._ **

* * *

_Gaster stepped in, “I once again must bring your attention to this matter; what, or who has the other half of Frisk’s soul?”_

_Sans grunted, sockets empty in near anger, “i dunno, but considering they haven’t bothered to tell us yet, i presume no-one good.”_

* * *

Alone with their thoughts for a while, Frisk analysed the burgundy walls of the skelebros living room. The floors were littered with odd pieces of socks, jumpers, sweet wrappers, and generally looked as if no one had bothered to clean up in months.

She stuck her nose in the air at the faint smell of cooking burgers in the oven. Papyrus was looking after her, cooking dinner for them both while Sans had ‘business to attend to’, which was no doubt probably just napping.

Sans had seemed quite upset lately, it didn’t entirely surprise Papyrus that he wanted to stay away from home for a night, as long as he didn’t make a habit of it.

“Human! Food is ready!” the enthused skeleton announced from the arch, carrying it into the room on a plate. Frisk smiled, taking it from him graciously and being somewhat surprised, but impressed, that dinner actually looked edible for once.

She bit into it happily, which made Papyrus even more delighted while watching from a distance.

“You like it?! Am I getting better?”

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically, offering a thumbs up.

Papyrus clapped his hands together and puffed his chest out triumphantly, “Great!! Then I will make us!! Dessert!!” he swiftly made his exit to the door, leaving Frisk alone with her thoughts again.

A feeling of contented warmth spread throughout her body. She scoffed the burger down in one go, at peace for the first time in a while.  
And when the wall seemed to grow a new shadow for a split second, she gripped the seat apprehensively.

Papyrus pulled out a massive white bowl from the cupboard and stared at it.

…Now what…!!? You can’t make dessert if you don’t know the ingredients!

He glared daggers into it in accusation. _Fine! I will make it up! As I go along!!_

He acquired some flour, some sugar… _what next…this is so…difficult…?_

_CRASH!_

Pulling his attention away from his soon-to-be monstrosity, Papyrus quickly strode towards the arch to the living room, “Human?? What was that sound? Have you fallen off the sofa again?” he paused, suddenly alarmed, “Have you dropped my delicious burger??!”

Instead, he saw the child had changed clothes. Ah, that was it.

He sighed in exasperation, “Frisk, did you fallen over putting on your new jumper? Did you get burger sauce all down it??” he looked around the room for the discarded blue jumper, wanting to make cleaning it his responsibility.

“Sans said I had to take care of you…so I will. I will clean up your mess!! Because, I am the Great Papyrus, a Babysitter!” he paused and narrowed his eyes, “…that sounded much better in my head…”

“You fret over the most stupid things.” the human said, chuckling to themselves, and turning away, “It’s nothing, go back to…whatever the hell it was you were doing.”

Papyrus exhaled heavily, “And now you’re upset again…are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“But…you were just happy, and now your voice seems all dark and angry and I’m not sure what I’ve done…if I even did anything…did you actually not like your dinner? I’m sorry, I—"

“Quit jabbering, Papyrus!” the human yelled, still not turning around for some reason, “God, no wonder Sans can’t standing being around you!”

_…What…?_

Taken aback, Papyrus stuttered with a half nervous smile, “I…I’m sure you didn’t mean that. What’s got you all upset? We can sit down and talk about this if you like? I will do my absolute best to look after you—”

“I don’t need looking after, you idiot!” the human spun around; Papyrus gasped as their eyes shone crimson red, “I haven’t got much time and having you here is…irritating,” she threw out an arm, eyes glowing in delight as she grasped the knife on top of the shattered plate, “So stay out of my way, or you’ll regret it.”

“M-maybe you’re upset about your jumper…? If you don’t like the green one you’re wearing now I can wash the purple one…”

Gritting their teeth, the human’s eyes turned to Papyrus to stone as they threw out a hand, sending him crashing against the burgundy wall. “I said stay out of my way.” Their voice cracked halfway through the sentence, hand visibly shaking, but they seemed to notice and regain control. “Just…leave me alone Papyrus.”

Papyrus tried to pull himself together, shocked at Frisk’s power and anger, “I don’t understand…why are you so angry? And how are you using magic…??”

He instantly regret his words and whimpered as Frisk stormed up to him, holding the knife up to his throat as he cowered against the wall. “One more word out of you and I’ll turn you to dust,” she spat, sharp blade lightly scratching his neck.

“…Okay,” he whispered, staring down at the knife, “…just…”

There was a brief pause, but Frisk sighed, dropping the knife down on the floor and refusing to look at him, “Go back in the kitchen.”

Papyrus blinked rapidly, confused, “What??”

“ _GO BACK IN THE KITCHEN!”_ Frisk screamed, a harsh edge to their voice that sent a shiver down his spine.

Without another word, Papyrus quickly scampered off back to the kitchen, placing both hands on the counter sceptically and trying to regain his composure.

By the time he walked back outside to stand up for himself, Frisk had gone.

* * *

Snowdin was covered with a thick blanket of crystal white snow, the dust delicately sweeping as Sans kicked at it absentmindedly. He was on his way back to his house, internally but irately monologing about everything they had discussed in the lab.

_The hell did the kid do, separating their soul like that? and why keep it a secret, especially from me, knowing i might find out. must be someone i really hate._

_and I don’t hate many people._

Deciding to put his worries aside to help Papyrus, he finally approached the wooden door, lazily flinging the door open in fatigue.

“i’m home, pap,” he called, leaning on the door as shut. He waited a few moments and narrowed his eye sockets at the strange lack of response. “pap?”

At that, the tall figure of his brother raced out of the kitchen, looking visibly shaken.

“Sorry, brother! I had my eye on the dessert!” he announced with uncertainty.

“if you don’t mind me saying bro you look a little rattled,”

Papyrus scratched the back of his neck, “Eh…it’s nothing.”

Now Sans was _really_ concerned. Didn’t even condone him for a pun. He could always tell from that.

“nothing eh? stop _lion_ to me pap.”

“Honestly, I’m just…distracted. O-on my dessert!”

Not even a reaction.

“c’mon bro, i can tell something’s up. you ain’t hit me for all these bad puns yet,” he winked but his smile dropped when Papyrus looked away. “uh, hey, come sit down.”

He looked tense, but his brother made his way to the sofa and sat down with a soft exhale, seeming distracted. But it was definitely not because there was a pie in the oven.

“something happen with the kid?” he suggested with caution, wary about all the unknowns with their soul. There is a possibility the kid fell ill, or maybe even told him who was the bright new owner of the other half of Frisk’s soul.

“Perhaps I’m just not up to babysitting as much as I thought,” Papyrus avoided the question _and_ eye contact altogether, “Besides…Frisk isn’t that safe with me. I’m…I’m useless. I can’t even take care of…maybe Toriel is a better option,”

Sans sighed, “don’t say that, you’re fine. tori couldn’t help cos she was with us. Frisk had fun, right?”

Papyrus squirmed, “You could say that I guess…?” he laughed nervously, but stood up from the sofa, “I’m gonna check on the pie! I mustn’t burn it! Frisk seemed to really enjoy dinner earlier so I don’t want to ruin my cooking win streak!!”

Despite entire demeanour suddenly changing, Sans wasn’t buying it. He slouched down the sofa with a _hmph_ while he watched Papyrus leave the room as if he couldn’t escape quick enough. Must be a very important pie.

“take your scarf off, you can’t feel the cold,” he suggested, his eyes slowly glazing over as he watched the window’s night sky.

“…I think I won’t, this time, brother,” he called from the kitchen.

“huh. welp, suit yourself.”

_you’re a bad liar._

Eventually Papyrus came back out, but looked rather deflated. “Actually, brother, I think I would prefer it if I went to sleep.”

Sans wasn’t entirely surprised, “what ‘bout your ‘dessert’?”

Papyrus sighed, “It wasn’t that great, so I threw it away…I’ll try again tomorrow!”

well, something is definitely wrong. Pap never throws his food away.

Sans decided he wasn’t going to push, at least not yet. Usually if he wanted to talk about something he would come to him. Hopefully he was tired or having an off day, but if it continued, well…he’d have to intervene.

“Well…I’m going to bed. Can you—”

“yeah yeah, I’ll read ya your story,” he pulled himself up off the coach and jabbed his finger at the stairs, “c’mon, let’s go.”

His spirits lifted, Papyrus made a beeline over to the stairs and ran up, Sans sluggishly following from behind. He’d probably go to sleep as well. Boy, was he tired from doing a whole lot of nothing.

* * *

Clearing away the dishes, Toriel yawned, about ready to go to bed. Where was Frisk? She very much hated going to sleep with an empty house…

_Slam!_

Talking of the devil.

“Frisk, dear, it’s late! Eleven o’clock in the evening! Where have you been?” she called out, walking into the living room to find the child curled up on the sofa. “Oh dear…”

The child snivelled, not daring to look up, face planted on the pillows.

Toriel sat beside them and pulled them on her lap, rubbing their purple and blue back jumper, “What has happened? You poor thing, are you seeing things again?” she remembered the brief meeting she had with Sans and Alphys yesterday.

Frisk shook in her arms, before finally mumbling, “Something’s happening to me…and it’s not good,” she grasped her stomach, “and I feel ill.”

Toriel chuckled, “I suppose that’s because of your meal with Papyrus. He is improving but…there’s definitely room for improvement,” she stopped when she realised the child wasn’t reacting, “What do you mean something is happening to you?”

There was silence. “I can’t say.”

“Of course you can, use your words, Frisk.”

“No I mean, I literally can’t…not yet…not right now…I…” she suddenly welled up and sobbed, “I did something bad.”

Frowning, Toriel pulled Frisk closer, a large hand on the small child’s back to keep them safe, “And what did you do?”

Perhaps she was talking about the timeline. It didn’t matter much, everyone else was beginning to understand what Frisk had _really_ done. She knew about half their soul being missing, at least.

“I got upset at someone, I don’t know why…it was just…random. They didn’t do anything.”

There was a heavy sigh. “Frisk, you can’t be to blame if you are having a bad day. It is okay. You can apologise to them tomorrow. For now, I think you need to get some sleep. It is late after all.”

Frisk sniffed, and nodded glancing up at Toriel and being tightly grasped as the mother stood up, “Let’s get you to bed.”

All huddled up in bed, Frisk wriggled around comfortably and shut her eyes.

“There you go, see, there was no reason to cry, was there? It will all be better tomorrow,” Toriel gave her a gentle pat on the head.

_Knock knock knock._

Frisk froze.

“Goodness, who could that be this time of night? I will be right back dear,” Toriel quickly stepped out the room and hurried down the stairs, but Frisk ran up behind her.

“No, don’t answer it,” she pleaded, hanging over the stairwell.

Toriel paced closer the door, “It would be rude of me to leave them hanging, my child,” she shrugged, turning towards the door and opening it. “It’s fine, see? It’s just Sans!”

Eyes wide, Frisk turned and stormed up the stairs as fast as possible, feet sliding on the carpet in a hurry.

“I apologise, I do not know what has gotten into her,” Toriel sighed, but turned to Sans and smiled, “What can I do for you?”

Sans’ voice grew low, “where’s the kid?”

“I presume they’ve gone back to their room to sleep, why—oh!” Toriel stepped back as Sans marched through the door and made his way to the stairs, “Sans…that is rather rude. Where are you going?” she followed after him, slightly worried.

Half-way up the staircase he yelled, “need to find Frisk.”

Toriel exhaled heavily in exasperation, “Couldn’t this have waited until tomorrow? We were about to sleep!”

Barging into the room, Sans eyed the room for the child before laying eyes upon the trembling heap in the corner.

Sans stared at it for a while, trying to decide how to approach the matter. He was planning on going in eyes blazing and demanding information from the kid, but it would be wrong to, in their current state.

Still, he stared down at the child hiding under a blanket in the corner of the room, one eye glowing blue but he remained wordless.

“…Sans, I do not like where this is going. What has happened? They came back distressed an hour ago—”

“so it _was_ you, huh,” he spat at the kid. The lump in the corner of the room didn’t move. “i’ve lived here for a long-time, kid but i haven’t ever seen my bro shaking as much as he did today for a long, long time. he ain’t himself and it was right after he spent the day with you. so, tell me what happened.”

Toriel put a gentle hand on his arm, “Sans, perhaps we should wait until—”

“nah, tori, i’m sick of watching this get out of hand, i’m sick of them lying and, kid,” he yanked back the blanket with his magic, making Frisk squeal, her arms raising as a shield, “the second you upset my bro, you crossed the line.”

Frisk huddled herself, choked with fear and shaking their head, but not entirely sure what for.

“Sans,” Toriel demanded, pushing him away from the child, “You need to leave. Now.”

Both creatures had a stare down for an uncomfortable period of time, before Sans finally let his guard down, his eye fizzing out. “tori, you don’t get it, do you? there’s something going on here and the kid is lying about everything. if there really is no more resets, and the kid takes it too far, then—”

“Calm down, Sans,” the motherly creature hushed, pulling him away from Frisk and giving them a _you’re welcome_ glance, before leading Sans out the room.

She continued, “I know there has been quite a lot to take in lately but you are getting ahead of yourself. Frisk is ill, but she is not evil. We all know this. You said so yourself. If there is something wrong with them, which there is, we must find it within ourselves to fix them. And we will,” she paused and quietened her voice, “Just not like this…”

Sans took a moment to take it in, before sighing and shrugging it off. “yeah, i know. just don’t know what to do, you know? she won’t come to the lab with us, gaster has zero social skills and will probably scare her off anyway, she’s lied about everything she ‘admit’ so far and now my bro is shaken up and its up to me to deal with it.”

Toriel gave a tired smile, “It’s not up to you, it’s up to _us,”_ she emphasized, then gestured at Frisk’s room door, “If there really is something else going on then we will get to the bottom of it.”

“this whole thing with Frisk’s half a soul…freakin’ me out man. don’t know who they gave it to. and they won’t say.”

“It scares me too, Sans,” she sighed, fatigue creeping up on her and stifling back a yawn, “With only half a soul she is weaker than you. These days I’m afraid of what will happen when she falls over.”

“or falls down,” Sans mumbled to himself, but then stretched in fatigue as well and pushed himself away, although Toriel followed him down the stairs.

“I hope you’re going home now.”

“yea,” he relented, making his way to the door, “but listen,” he turned around to face Toriel and said sternly, “make sure the kid goes to our lab tomorrow. don’t care how, but we need to do some tests. will give everyone else a peace of mind at least.”

Toriel sighed, but ultimately she was growing fonder of the idea since the epiphany with Frisk’s broken soul. “I will take her there myself if I have to,” she said with certainty, although felt a sudden wave of relief unexpectedly.

“ok. good. well. cya tomorrow, tori,” he murmured, before closing the door.

Toriel released a heavy sigh, her head in her hands in exasperation.

Finally, something was being done.

* * *

**_To Be Continued..._ **

* * *

A/N: I have another chapter ready for tomorrow, but I hope you enjoyed! Not sure if anyone still reads these lmao


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk loses it with Papyrus, Sans comes to his rescue, unfortunately for Frisk

_“yea,” he relented, making his way to the door, “but listen,” he turned around to face Toriel and said sternly, “make sure the kid goes to our lab tomorrow. don’t care how, but we need to do some tests. will give everyone else a peace of mind at least.”_

_Toriel sighed, “I will take her there myself if I have to,” she said with certainty._

_“ok. good. well. cya tomorrow, tori,” he murmured, before closing the door. Toriel released a heavy sigh, her head in her hands in exasperation._

_Finally, something was being done._

* * *

“Frisk?” Toriel called from the bottom of the stairs, “It’s time to wake up!”

During the past few weeks Frisk wasn’t exactly one to answer or even speak much anymore, but alas, Toriel did not want to keep having to hunt the child down if she could help it.

“Frisk! You’re going to be late!” she shouted again, but once more her demands were only met with silence.

Sighing in resignation, Toriel plodded up the stairwell. She was slightly annoyed her child was ignoring her, albeit she understood why. She had overheard her and Sans talking the night before and it took hours to get them to sleep.

But today she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Everyone needs to know the true extent of what was wrong with Frisk, and clearly she had been declining. If it wasn’t for her odd behaviour, then Sans storming into the house last night and nearly engaging in a fight with Frisk would have settled the fact they needed to get help.

Peering into the dark bedroom, Toriel whispered, “Frisk?”

But there was no-one there.

“…Oh dear…Not again,” she muttered, eying the open window. Seems she had ran away during the night. In trepidation, Toriel pulled out her phone and swiftly called her friend’s number.

Sans picked up almost immediately with a chuckle, “hey tori, lemme guess, you lost the kid?”

“Sans, I do apologise, I—wait,” she narrowed her eyes, “How did you know?” perhaps he had kidnapped her or something.

“eh, she paid my bro a visit last night. apologised and fell asleep round ours. they’re all good now.”

“…Right,” Toriel was suspicious, “Isn’t she supposed to be at the lab now?”

“eeyup, will do right after she wakes up. i have my eye on them.”

“Oh do be careful, Sans, I managed to lose them and I am their guardian…”

“tori,” Sans’ voice emphasised through the phone, “i have my _eye_ on them.”

She blinked in realisation. Oh. “Of course. Silly me.”

 _“Sans!!”_ a distant voice yelled through the speaker, “ _Get over here!”_

“heh, sorry tori, gotta go,”

She sighed, “It’s fine, Sans. I’ll talk to you later.”

The phone clicked off.

A thought lingered in her head. Self-doubt clawing at her mind.

Was she really this bad at being a parent…? Why, of course she was. She had lost children before. Chara, Asriel. Frisk was ill and kept escaping through the night.

_I’m such a bad parent…I am bound to lose yet another child…because of my incompetence._

* * *

Alone in their room, Frisk was standing against the burgundy wall, maintaining a fighting stance over something that wasn’t there. There was an empty plate of spaghetti and cutlery lose around the room. In front of her was a mirror on the wall, and in the reflection was not herself, but someone else.

It was a mess of black and red mist, the figure was obviously human but the body looked corrupted, covered in a vicious vaper of dark colours that left them unidentifiable.

She had been staring at it for ten minutes, but all it did was stare back and smile.

Eventually, Frisk decided to speak to it.

“What are you…” she murmured, trying to get a glimpse at the figure but it wouldn’t settle, “I feel like I should know you but I don’t…if I could just…”

The figure in the mirror didn’t reply, craning their head to the side and continuing to smile.

“I’ve been seeing you ever since…ever since I changed the timeline.”

“Oh man, you _are_ stupid.”

Frisk’s heart jumped in her throat as the figure replied, eerily distorted but continuing to stare her down. It was the first time she had heard it speak out loud, and not in her head.

“It’s only been a week, what, you forgot what happened already?”

Frisk shook her head, “No, no I remember what happened. But I don’t know why that’s any business of yours.”

The figure chuckled hysterically, although quiet. Two red irises began to glow through the mist, squinting together as if smiling.

“If you had actually gone with them then this wouldn’t have happened,” the creature taunted, “Although, I did tell you not to tell anyone. Remember?”

Frisk grasped her shirt in panic and vivaciously shook her head, “Oh god, no! You can’t be…”

It laughed again.

“You think I wanted to trade half your soul just to have as a nice accessory? That I just let you live to _be_ nice? Oh, Frisk. You remind me of Asriel. So naïve, thinking the impossible isn’t possible. But we’re different. You should know it is.”

“I-I thought I was going crazy,” Frisk stuttered, staring wide-eyed at the creature, “But it was you. The entire time.”

“Seriously?” the creature’s laughing was getting louder, making Frisk wince, “You give half your soul to me and then you start getting visions and a desire to hurt and you seriously wonder what it was?”

Frisk swallowed, “I didn’t think it was _you._ I-I had assumed it was the aftereffects of giving half my soul to you and it would go away, or they would fix it. I didn’t think…you were in my head…”

It smiled, “Well I was. I _am._ I’m getting stronger than you. I don’t need your determination anymore. I have half of your soul. And, hopefully, I’ll have the body too, but that’s a work in progress.”

“You’re the reason why I lost my temper at Papyrus,” Frisk gaped, “But Sans nearly attacked me! With only half a soul I’d be dead!”

“ _We_ would be dead!” the creature shouted, “So thank god mo—your mom saved us.”

Frisk pressed a hand to her chest as her breathing became erratic, “But why? What’s the point? Can’t you…I don’t know…wait for another human to fall? Or just…let go?”

The creature was silent for a moment, as if pondering why it was really here.

“I’ve said this before. Your determination awoke me when you became genocidal. But once you used your determination to get to the surface…I was in the void. I fear I won’t be able to ‘let go’ until you die or I come back.”

Frisk pursed her lips, “So this entire thing is because you want to come back?”

The creature screamed “ _Do you know what it’s like?!_ To be stuck in an endless void. To have no being, no world, nothing but _you!_ Well…except…perhaps another soul.”

Frisk blinked, “…Another lost soul?”

The creature sighed, surprising Frisk that the creature could feel anything at all.

_Well…they do have a soul now…_

“Keep up, Frisk. That guy is the reason I was able to meet you and convince you to give me half your soul.”

Frisk glared, “Yeah, you threatened to kill me if I didn’t. Being stuck in the void with you? No thanks.”

“You’re getting cocky, Frisk.”

She grinned, a feeling of confidence overwhelming her, “And now you have a soul you’re starting to feel again. I can tell.”

“I wasn’t always a genocidal maniac. That was your fault,” it growled, red irises glowing again.

“Well invading my body isn’t the way to do it. I could speak to the science-y people. Like Gaster or Sans or Alphys.”

It chuckled, “I’m corrupted now, thanks to you. I want to kill. My existence is to kill. There is no other point of me being here. You tainted me. YOU! Do you think they’d let me back!? Do you think _Sans_ would let me back!? If…if you hadn’t gone genocidal, if you had just…just gone to the surface all pacifist and no…sins…maybe…maybe I would have had a chance! But I _hate!_ Everyone and everything! And it’s YOUR FAULT!”

“IT’S NOT MY FAULT!” Frisk screamed into the mirror, “I didn’t know that would happen…”

“I’m coming back to kill everyone and it will be your fault.”

“ _IT’S NOT MY FAULT!”_ Frisk roared so harshly her voice shook—and at that moment the door flew open—she didn’t even notice how hard she was hyperventilating and panting. The two brothers stepped into the room—she quickly glanced at the mirror to see the figure in her imagination fading away with a smile, before gazing back to the brothers.

“jeez, kiddo, i can hear you screaming from downstairs,” Sans groused, kneeling down beside them, “who were you talking to?”

“No-one!” Frisk cried, slamming their head against the wall, tears in their eyes with frustration, “No-one…”

“It certainly sounded like you were talking to someone!” Papyrus chortled, pacing in a circle, “You were having a full conversation! Well…sounded like incoherent mumbling to me but it was still a conversation!”

“c’mon, kid, we need to get to the lab.”

Frisk pushed him away, “I’m staying _here_!”

“nope, i’ve had enough of this. you’re coming to the lab.”

“I have never known you to be so defiant, human!” Papyrus tittered, head tilted in surprise.

“ _Shut up!”_ she roared, slapping a hand over her mouth in surprise, “ _Oh god…”_

_I cant control it. I can’t control it. I can’t control it._

To her surprise, Sans was being strangely patient at her outburst, “will you come if you have a few minutes to calm down?”

Frisk was silenced at his oddly reasonable request, but just wanted them to get away, “Yes! Just…just leave me alone…” If anyone did tests, they would find out about the demon living in her head. Then the demon was lash out and kill. But for now…

Sans watched her for a moment before, sighing, “kid, you’re giving me a real workout, going up and down these stairs,” he said jokingly, before shrugging and standing up, “ok, you got 5 minutes. let’s go pap.”

Papyrus stopped staring at the two with his hands on his hips and followed Sans out the room, before pausing again, and whispering to him. “Actually, brother, I think it would be good if I stayed…maybe if I showed her that I forgive her for what happened she’ll stop being upset!”

Sans, too tired to care at this point just shrugged, “yeah, fine. just make sure she’s downstairs in 5 minutes. and i mean it.”

“Of course!” Papyrus shut the door when Sans left and knelt down beside the quivering child. “Human, I would like to express my deepest sympathies for what you are going through, and would like to offer my official forgiveness, for shouting at me today! And yesterday! But that’s okay! Because I know you’re upset!”

Frisk rubbed her wrist on her knees and nodded, “I know, Papyrus, you aren’t the problem,” she said quietly, “I’m sorry, I…I don’t know how I’m going to fix it, but…I can’t go to the lab.”

It was never going to work, asking Papyrus to _not_ do something that Sans wanted him to do. But it was worth a try. The creature in her head had threatened to kill her if she didn’t. And if she died while in the void…the creature could have taken her soul.

But now, finding out now they were coming back with a vengeance anyway…

“I…I messed up real bad, Papyrus,” Frisk whimpered, leaning into the tall skeleton, “I don’t wanna go to the lab, I just can’t…” she repeated.

Papyrus sighed, pulling the human in a little too tightly. Frisk squeaked as she struggled to breath. “I can’t disobey my brother, Frisk. But more importantly, I do know they are doing it for you. For you to become better. I know you can get better, you just have to believe you can, just try…”

Frisk sharply inhaled for another breath, “Don’t make me go, please…we can find another way…”

Papyrus mercifully released his tight squeeze, “If it helps, I will stay there with you! I know I’m pretty useless and haven’t got a clue what I’m doing, unlike my amazingly smart brother, at least I can help you.”

“I’m not going.”

“Human…Frisk…please…”

“ **I am not going.”**

“I’m afraid at this point you don’t really have much of a choice, unless you ask Sans—”

“No, I don’t think you understand,” Frisk suddenly leapt out of Papyrus’ grasp and pinned him down, eyes glowing as red as the crimson blood running through her veins, “ ** _I_ am not going.”**

Papyrus chuckled nervously, noticing the knife was missing from the empty spaghetti plate, “Aha…I think I understand…you’re making a joke…saying that I’m going to go instead, because…”

“Remember the last time I told you not to get in my way?” she hissed, bringing a knife to his throat again, just like before, “I would kill you if you do.”

“Frisk, this isn’t you, it’s happening again…just…just focus…okay, you won’t have to go, will that be enough to calm you down?”

“You’re not exactly trustworthy, Papyrus,” Frisk hissed, scraping the knife across his neck, dust daintily falling out, “You’ll spill every little secret to your brother and use us against ourselves…you…manipulative little…”

_SLASH._

Papyrus jumped back in shock, a clear cut grazed across his ribs.

Frisk didn’t even take a second to stop and look at it before continuing her outburst. “ **I’m not going!”** she grabbed the nearest beside table and whacked it around Papyrus’ head with a SMASH with almost superhuman strength, the smell of wood and dust filling the air.

As Frisk picked up the other beside table, blue bones sprouted from the ground around Papyrus, as he protected himself from the next attack.

 _“I’M NOT GOING!”_ she lobbed it at him, the beige wood hitting and splitting into two as it collided with the bones.

“Frisk, please calm down…” Papyrus pleaded, sprouting more bones around the room.

Frisk reached into her pocket and pulled out her knife, hurling it at his chest—another blue bone sprout up and hit it, sending it off in another direction just in time, scraping the side of his right leg. She ran and grabbed it, while Papyrus just watched her solemnly.

“I won’t hurt you, Frisk, just, calm down please!! I’ve already said we don’t have to go!”

“ **YOU’RE A LIAR!”** Frisk shrieked, performing a running jump with an attempt to stab him again, before the door suddenly flew open and threw her off guard.

Before she had a chance to react, she squealed as her soul immediately turned blue, then was being throttled across the room at high speeds and smacked into a wall.

_WHOOSH._

_SMACK._

_WHOOSH._

_SMACK._

_WHOOSH._

_“SANS!”_

_SMACK._

_WHOOSH._

_“SAAANS!”_

_SMACK._

_“BROTHER! STOP IT!”_

_WHOOSH._

_SMACK._

_WHOOSH._

_SMACK._

_CRACK………_

Frisk’s red eyes faded back to brown.

Blissfully, everything went black.

Awakening was probably the most unexpected painful things Frisk had ever experienced to date. Every bone in her body was aching, it hurt to breathe, her brain was foggy, she couldn’t remember why. It felt as if a forty-pound ton of bricks was weighing down on her chest, and she struggled to inhale, doing so with a wheeze.

Cracking open her eyelids, she was first confused where she was, or what was happening. There were various blurry figures of people everywhere, but they didn’t seem to notice her. Bright searing lights burned at every corner of her vision, and her breath was somehow disappearing and reappearing like fog. Oh wait, no, that was a mask.

A mask.

That signified she was injured, or unwell. But why…?

She tried to speak, a noise at least, but nothing came out more than a gurgle. This, however, seemed to have sparked their attention, as the blurry faces reappeared over her face, mouths moving as if they were saying something but she couldn’t hear.

Couldn’t hear.

What could she hear? It was just white noise.

A skeletal gapped hand appeared over her face—too close—and beamed a portable searing light into one of her eyes. She shrieked, immediately tensing up to get away from what was probably someone evil that had captured her, like the creature.

The creature.

Oh.

Oh god.

She remembered now.

She attacked Papyrus and Sans had sent her flying around the room with only half a heart.

But…there was no reset. There was no SAVE. This time she was truly dying.

_Oh…_

She panicked more, weakly trying to move her legs to roll away, but it was feeble and ridiculous and they were all probably standing there laughing at her.

Something grasped her legs, keeping her still, the faces above her demanding something—demanding her attention, but what? She couldn’t hear.

She tried to kick away from the hands but her captors easily overpowered her. She began to notice the sound of her own breathing, her wheezing, her panicked gasping, which sounded like someone drowning.

A yellow blur reached across her, a sudden sharp pain in her left arm, before suddenly the world began to fade away.

She wanted to kick, to scream, to grasp to life with every fibre of being but she couldn’t. It was finally ebbing away. At last.

Some peace.

The next time she awoke was more graceful. The pain was still there, but she didn’t feel as confused or foggy.

Peeking an eye open, she was relieved to see that the figures were now identifiable, albeit still a bit blurry.

The one sitting closest to her, of all people, was Papyrus. She choked back a sob at the realisation, and couldn’t stop the onset of ridiculous tears as the skeleton turned around to face her.

“Ah, Frisk, you’re awake,” echoed a voice from the left of her. It sounded like Gaster.

So, they finally got her in the lab then. And…she wasn’t dead. Not by the injuries and not by the creature. Had the creature given her…mercy…?

“I was so worried about you, human!” Papyrus exclaimed, grasping Frisk’s arm but immediately retracted it when she shrieked out in pain. “Oh…sorry.”

Gaster’s voice reappeared, “So, you have broken bones in 26 places of your body. Quite an achievement.”

Frisk didn’t want to pay attention to him, but instead was desperate to get two words out to Papyrus.

“S-sorry,” she gurgled at him, her voice hoarse and dry.

Papyrus shook his head, “Don’t try to speak!! You’re not allowed yet!!” he exclaimed, turning away to someone as if for reassurance and then turned back to Frisk again. “But…I guess it’s okay. That I forgive you, I mean!”

“Yes, do not try to speak. When you are a little stronger, we can try healing magic. But for now your body needs to try to heal naturally,” Gaster explained, and just like Papyrus, seemed to gaze over at someone else.

Frisk turned to see who it was, but, of course, it was none other than Sans. Standing away from everyone at a distance, hands behind his back, remorse plastered all over his face.

Sans seemed to notice and surprisingly decided to talk, “so.” he started, and took a better part of a minute trying to conjure up what to say next, “we know there’s another…being, in your head. or your body. i dunno, i don’t quite understand it myself yet.”

Frisk felt her stomach twist on the inside. She awaited an inevitable outburst of the demon living in her mind at the reveal that everyone now knew, but nothing came. It was quite possible it was as weak as Frisk was, perhaps even worse.

“unfortunately we can’t do much about it right now. as in we don’t know anything about it. it isn’t a physical being, it doesn’t consist of matter. i guess the easiest way to say it is it’s a corruption, and i’m presuming this is what you did when you messed with this timeline.”

Frisk could only nod in agreement.

“but, obviously it’s not just your imagination because it’s clearly getting through. changing your behaviour. your physical appearance.”

Frisk glanced up at him at that.

“yeah, i saw your eye turn from red to brown again when i dropped you.”

_Crap._

“plus, pap recalls you wearing a green jumper a few days ago, within seconds of leaving the room, your normal one was nowhere to be seen, until you changed back again. this again was when you apparently lashed out the first time.”

Frisk swallowed.

“yeah, he finally told me about that too.”

“It is an extraordinary occurrence. There are so many theories to investigate. However, we must wait until you are well enough to explain yourself. Only then can we discover real answers.” Gaster explained from the other side of Frisk.

Papyrus piped up, “There is no solution right now…but…! I have complete and full confidence that in the future, there will be!”

“we’re gonna keep constantly monitoring you. see if there’s any changes in brainwaves or something when you’re gonna…lash out. then we can do something before someone gets hurt.”

“What Sans is saying is, we’re all here for you now!! Whenever you feel angry for no reason or feel like hurting someone again, we’ll know! And we’ll know why!”

Frisk, inhaled sharply as she tried to speak for the first time in what was probably hours, or even days. “So what you’re saying is…you’re protecting everyone from me…”

Gaster cleared his throat, “Yes.”

“Gaster!!!”

“c’mon, g, that was harsh,”

“It is the truth.”

Frisk felt her blood run cold. But it wasn’t because of the creature. It was pure dread.

“I…so…what are you gonna do? Do you have to lock me up or something?”

It brought Frisk much needed relief to hear Sans chuckle to himself again. “nah, you’re you most of the time. we’re gonna figure out why it’s happening, then fix it. but until then, just gotta keep an eye socket out for ya.”

Frisk still wasn’t entirely comfortable with this. Just letting them go, despite the fact she could turn any time…?

“besides, you’re stuck here now, so, now you can’t run from our tests,” Sans winked, before walking out of Frisk’s line of sight. She sighed.

This was going to be a very annoying few days.

* * *

_To be continued...._

* * *

yay. hope you all enjoyed. my motivation for this is waning and i'm tired as heck. but im probably just fed up with this virus. i hope you're all coping okay :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The voice in Frisk's head begins to take control, and she comes to an unlikely friend to help.

A/N: Hey! I think we're at the halfway point. Hope you're all safe. Here's another chapter! (thanks to Yours The Author for betaing)

* * *

_Frisk still wasn’t entirely comfortable with this. Just letting them go, despite the fact she could turn any time…? “besides, you’re stuck here now, so, now you can’t run from our tests,” Sans winked, before walking out of Frisk’s line of sight. She sighed._

_This was going to be a very annoying few days._

* * *

Three days. Three. Days. That’s how long Frisk was able to stay before she started trying to find a way out the building. Granted, for a child that was a long time, but it was a _sick_ child at that and she should be asleep. Healing. Not climbing out of bed every ten minutes trying to find something to do.

Papyrus stretched, cracking his fingers, “Well, if they carry on like this you’ll be as fit and healthy as me in no time!”

_what a horrible thought._

“that’ll be an achievement,” Sans snorted, gazing blearily at the empty bed, “they’ll get bored of hiding eventually.”

It had, _eventually_ , been eight hours since Frisk was last seen. Monsters were beginning to get worried, calling her cellphone. Toriel had searched the house, even had Sans and Papyrus look around her home themselves yet no-one was found.

Whatever this was, the kid was definitely playing a very hard game of hide and seek.

Back at the skelebros house, Papyrus sighed in exasperation, unable to keep himself from pacing, “Brother, I am worried! What if the human gets lost?”

“heh. it’s not _that_ I’m worried about,” Sans muttered under his breath, both brothers lounging around aimlessly at home.

“Can’t we do anything to help? I feel useless just sitting at home and doing nothing!! Watching TV is so not helping!!”

“maybe the kid just wants to be left alone,” he shrugged it off, despite a deep gnawing feeling of trouble. Every fibre of gut instinct inside him was cautious about the current situation Frisk was in; or, to be frank, what _everyone_ was in.

The amount of power Frisk has is unreal, and if they were going just a little bit crazy…who knows what mistakes will be made.

“What if she’s hiding from us?”

Sans stopped in his thought tracks, “huh. you have a point,” he turned to face him, “why would she want to hide from us? unless…hmm.”

“Hmm?”

“yea, hmm.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Sans!!”

“could be trying to protect everyone from themselves. but if that’s even so, then why not just stay in the lab? so we can figure out how to stop it. She’s just prolonging it this way…”

“She must be all alone and scared…if there was only a way to find her…”

“yeah, she must be… _terrifeared_.”

“Sans. No.”

* * *

Meanwhile, hiding inside a small narrow space in-between huge buildings of the CORE, where she had successfully hid as of yet, Frisk was attempting to talk down her ‘alter ego’.

“How long are we going to sit here, Frisk? You’re gonna get bored eventually. And hot, too.”

Frisk closed her eyes, “As long as it takes.”

“Why, you waiting for me to go? I’m afraid I can’t do anything about that, even if I wanted to.”

“I know,” she sighed, resting her head against the warm wall, “But it gives them the time they need to think of a cure.”

Frisk thought she heard a small laugh, “They can’t come up with a cure if you’re not there, stupid! They have to do _tests._ And you…you can’t even stay there for ten minutes.”

“I’ve done their tests…whatever they want to do now is just to check up on me…and I can check up on myself,” she took in a breath of frustration, “For example, you’re still here, therefore I’m still dangerous.”

She fidgeted a little, growing more and more uncomfortable within the confined space. “I’ll come out of hiding when I’ve got you under control or they found a cure.”

“ _Friiiisk_ ,” the voice whined in her head, half annoyed and half joking, “There isn’t a cure. What will it take for you to understand that? You can’t give medicine to a glitch. Otherwise wouldn’t you think they’d have brought back G-…nevermind.”

“Gaster? He’s already here.”

The voice said in a slightly elevated pitch, “He’s not _your_ Gaster though,” a small snigger, “But I’ve seen the _real_ Gaster.”

“I’m sure,” Frisk retorted sarcastically.

“Really. I have. When I was in the void. Who do you think disrupted the time—”

“FRISK?!” a loud voice boomed around the CORE, “I heard you talking!! I’m gonna tell everyone you’re here!”

“Damn it, it’s Papyrus,” the childlike voice sighed, “Now we _really_ have to go.”

“No.”

A pause.

“Excuse me?” the voice sounded…offended?

“The more I do what you tell me to do the more control you have over me. So, no. I’m not moving.”

“You’re gonna get caught!” Frisk winced as the voice shouted in her head, “They know you’re here, idiot! They could hear you talking!”

“Maybe you should stop talking to me. Then I won’t have to reply.”

“ _MOVE!”_

“No.”

“They’re _coming,_ you idiot! _Move!_ Get out of here!”

“Aw, are you worried we’re gonna get caught?” it dawned upon Frisk just then that the sooner the other monsters got their hands on her, the sooner the voice would be found out, thus the creature inside her.

“Remember what I said if we get caught? If you tell them who I am?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll kill everyone in the underground and take over my body. But why not just do it now?”

“Because I’d still have _you_ in my head. I want this body to be mine and mine alone. But I _will_ take it over to save us if you won’t! _MOVE!”_ Frisk jumped, squeezing her eyes shut and letting out a shaky exhale at the voice screaming in her head.

She scrambled, clawing at the red walls, her legs wanting to move but her brain screaming at her to stop.

“No, stop!” Frisk whimpered.

“Haha, you’re losing control again, Frisk! You’re losing it! Your body is listening to me now.”

“No, it’s not,” she hissed, whacking herself on the kneecap as if to establish control, “I’m not listening.”

“But you _are_ listening!” the voice shouted, while Frisk panted and scurried up against the wall.

“Be quiet!” she yelled, not caring anymore that people will be able to hear, “Shut up or I’ll tell them!”

The room was spinning drastically, she clawed the ground as if it were a lifeline before falling off a cliff. She choked on her own breath and inhaled sharply.

“You’re going insane! _You’re going insaaane!”_

 _“I’M NOT!”_ the last remaining pieces of her rational mind was telling her, _calm down, this is just another panic attack, you’re not going insane,_ but the prospect seemed so real it was impossible to ignore.

Frisk clawed at her face, screaming incoherently to herself at the noise and laughter penetrating her ears, making her want to punch and hit and shout and scream as if it would overpower the voice in her head. “ _GET OUT!”_

“Hahaha, look at you. I’m almost second-guessing whether I even want your body,” Frisk pulled at her hair, crying pointlessly and displaying such pathetic weakness in front of the enemy, but it was like she couldn’t stop herself. She sobbed and screamed into the floor, as if it would make the voice go away.

“Jeez, Frisk, this is…kinda weird, not gonna lie,” the voice seemed genuinely surprised at Frisk’s outburst, their teasing suddenly coming to a stop and was too bizarre not to be genuine.

Frisk’s breath hitched in her throat as black shoes stepped into view, featuring the bony leg of a skeleton. The anxiety was so nauseating she wanted to throw up. She let out another sob, daring herself to look up, expecting Papyrus to be there. Instead, she was met with the very confused yet stoic face of Gaster. Only the slightly narrowed eye sockets signified he was concerned. Could probably overhear the screaming from his lab.

Her hands on her head in dismay, she couldn’t help herself from hyperventilating while the scientist just watched, before finally saying something. But no words came out of the man’s mouth. All Frisk could hear was her own rapid breathing.

In a panic, Frisk crawled away from the narrow spot, heart pounding in her chest, attempting to run away. A spike of fear hit her stomach when Gaster’s eye started glowing orange, expecting to be thrust up in the air to stop her from running away, but the glow faded just as quickly, and he watched as Frisk cautiously made her escape.

“He let you go,” the voice said, void of emotion, seemingly perplexed. “Why did he do that?”

Frisk didn’t reply, slowing down to a near jog and looking for any area she could use as her next hiding place, muscles heavy painfully exhausted. Finally, she found herself in the entrance of Hotland. She trudged up to an orange structure and hid behind it. She collapsed onto the floor, managing a few more quiet sobs, but eventually succumbing to fatigue.

The warmth of the ground didn’t do much to help her already sweating face, the heat coming through in never-ending waves. She lay there, motionless, waiting to come down from her episode. The taunting echoing voice tittered mockery in Frisk’s head as little whispers, her exhausted mind wanting nothing more than some peace and quiet. Was it too much to ask?

* * *

At home, Gaster sipped his already almost empty cup of coffee, huffing at the notes on his desk.

It was the first time he had seen for himself Frisk’s appearance changing, and the look in her eyes…was familiar. Crimson red, and a look of despair plastered over manic delight, as if the mind was fighting over an emotion. The sensation of déjà vu had caused him to push away his powers that he was about to use to capture her. Finding her again would be truly difficult, but evidently not impossible.

Gaster took another sip of the coffee and exhaled heavily, unsure of what to do at this stage.

He began a new log to convey his findings. “Initial results of testing indicated that Frisk is not stable by any means. Not only their soul, but their mind, as if something was leaching off it, or perhaps draining it.” It was not something Gaster had seen before, and yet, somehow, he was expecting it.

He continued into the log, “Sans is becoming more distressed by the day. He is naturally not the happiest person, always a little melancholy, and yet I fear he is getting worse. He lashed out when I informed him of the child’s escape, but soon stopped fighting when he remembered I overpower him. Papyrus is…Papyrus.”

_Never change._

There was a light knock at the door. Gaster tried to mentally determine who it was by the volume of the knock, how many times they knocked, how fast or slow it was…too many variables.

He placed the mug down and spun around in his chair, before he could even get up the knocking came again, but hammering urgently.

_An emergency, perhaps?_

It certainly wasn’t Sans, so who of all people would it—

As the door creaked open, Gaster tried to hide his surprise when he saw it was none other than Frisk behind the door, staring up at him in urgency. Her hands were shaking furiously

“Frisk—?”

Their tortured mind repeated the phrase “get it out get it out get it out”.

He blinked in perplexment and quickly shut the door behind her, “What is the matter?”

And why go to him of all people?

Frisk was jittery when speaking, “There’s been a voice, i-in my head, it won’t go away and she won’t shut up,”

“She? You have characterized it?”

The human didn’t seem to want to play question games, “ _Get it out!”_

Unsure whether this was Frisk or the intruding voice talking, he still reached out a hand and lit her soul up blue, carrying it along with him as he hurried across the room—in a calm and collected manner of course. “Come with me, I will attempt to look into it,” he declared, as if Frisk even had a choice in following him.

The distressed human continue to babble on behind him, “I don’t care anymore, stop threatening me,”

“…Who are you talking—”

“ _No, you won’t!_ You don’t…you…I won’t let you have this body, you never will!”

“It seems I underestimated the severity of the situation,” Gaster mumbled, walking perhaps _slightly_ faster.

He nearly jumped out of his hypothetical skin when a loud incomprehensible scream erupted from human child behind him, and he began to wonder just how bad things had escalated.

Approaching his in-house lab, he released Frisk’s soul and gestured to the lightly padded table that _definitely_ wasn’t suited for sleeping on.

“Sit down, I will run some scans,”

This fell onto deaf ears as the child continued to argue and shout in the background as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. Gaster sighed and picked her soul up, placing them on the table himself.

He very quickly realised how frustrating this was going to be with all the noise when he couldn’t concentrate on any of the readings.

Walking back over to her with deep rooted dread, Gaster held up a small glass filled with blue liquid, gesturing it at her in an offering manner.

The child temporarily stopped shouting in what seemed to be remarkably like re-enacting a vocalised political debate, eying the cup in wonderment.

“Take it, it is your medicine,” Gaster prompted patiently. Frisk, or whatever it was in her head, considered him for a moment and took it.

“What's it do?” she rasped; voice hoarse from the parade that she just ended.

Gaster ran through a million possibilities for an answer in his head for just a split second, before finally deciding he would _lie._

“It will keep your soul stable, for now,” he was unsure of who he was really speaking to, “It is important you take it.”

“Keep my soul stable, huh? And how do I know you're not lying?”

Unfortunate. But unsurprising.

“Are you suggesting that I lie about my work?”

He wasn't sure where he picked up the talent from. Maybe Sans.

Without another word, Frisk took the glass and necked it down in one go. The recoil was not alarming, though perhaps...provided some comical relief. The human's face had a tinge of green, gagging immediately and staring at him in disgust. “What the hell was in that?”

Gaster waited a couple of seconds with a stoic mask, before speaking the truth, “To be expected for an unfiltered sedative.”

Frisk's eyes flashed red in a mix of betrayal and anger, slowly laying themselves down on the table as the room likely began to blur.

“You...are a traitor of your kind,” the creature inside Frisk spat, succumbing slowly to the drug.

“And you are a traitor to yours.”

* * *

To Be Continued....

* * *

I'm thinking of making these chapters longer, I think they're a little too short rn, what do you'll think? Also, you've all probably guessed who the voice in Frisk's head is...but it will be revealed next chapter :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The creature's identity is revealed to everyone, and Frisk decides to deteriorate and nearly die. Very cool.

**_A/N:_** Hey all, sorry for the long wait. Just finished my dissertation so now I'm done with uni forever, yay! Which means... _ **angst time.**_

This was beta'd by the amazing _Yours The Author,_ thanks again!

* * *

_“What the hell was in that?”  
Gaster waited a couple of seconds with a stoic mask, before speaking the truth, “To be expected for an unfiltered sedative.”  
Frisk's eyes flashed red in a mix of betrayal and anger, slowly laying themselves down on the table as the room likely began to blur.   
“You...are a traitor of your kind,” the creature inside Frisk spat, succumbing slowly to the drug.  
“And you are a traitor of yours.”_

* * *

“kid.”

“frisk, wake up.”

A light tap on her shoulder brought Frisk to some sense of awareness. Opening her eyes, Sans was looming above her. Appearing moderately concerned, there was a dark expression on his face.

Frisk tried to remember where she was, what had happened...but there was no voice. Which meant...

Alarmed, she attempted to sit up, but Sans shoved her back down.

“don't move, there's a whole lotta wires all over ya, don't wanna rip em out.”

“Wires...?” Frisk's tongue felt numb, she slurred her words as she tried to piece together what was happening.

Sans’ expression shifted, “yep, we managed to finally do some tests while you were out. hows the voices?”

“Voices....s'no voices...”

“welp, that's something. Gaster tried re-injecting your side of the soul with its own determination. guess the other half hasn't made a move yet. not like it can, anyway.”

Frankly, Frisk was too tired to process any of the information, thanks to the sedative she had been put under. Oh well, there was time to do that later.

Sans shrugged, “actually, i’d better check on him-”

“Wait-" Frisk struggled, trying to form a sentence together as best as she could as Sans turned towards the exit, “What did you do to me? Why are you here?”

He scoffed and paced back towards her, “first of all, i work here, secondly,” he nudged her side, “i may have been slightly concerned.”

Frisk offered a lazy smile, “Concerned...? You...?” she dropped her playful tone at the look on his face, “Why?”

Sans shoved his hands in his pockets, withdrawing slightly, “can’t i worry for a friend without there being a disconcerting reason?”

That was probably the worst attempt at escape Frisk had ever witnessed, “You’re terrible at lying. Why are you really here?”

Unsurprisingly, Sans seemed uncomfortable. He glared at her for a few moments, as if willing her to back down by the intensity of his stare, but gave up at the thought of her damned old trait.

He sighed.

“Gaster found that the other half of the soul you gave to... _her_ was still connected to yours in some way,”

Frisk’s eyes widened as she realised Sans seemingly might know about the creature in her head.

“it's how she was able to communicate with you, get in your head, take control, so...” He swallowed, as if preparing for Frisk to retaliate, “the only way to get rid of it without a reset was to sever it. so he connected your soul back together and severed it again completely. you nearly died and Gaster needed help, so i came in and had the pleasure of doing cpr until we could get the wires attached to it.”

Frisk blinked at the overwhelming information. That explains why the wires can’t be ripped out. She glanced down at the white wires trailing into collar and down her chest.

“How...did he find the other half?” she subconsciously rubbed her knuckles against her blue shirt, feeling the thin wires rolling at the contact.

Sans' sockets became empty and he froze, as if reliving a memory.

“the uh...other half of the soul was able to talk while you were unconscious. they named themselves _Chara,_ and they wanted a form to come back in.”

“What...”

“kid, just; whatever you do, don’t move. got it?” he eyed the monitors apprehensively, seeming genuinely scared the needle would come out of her soul. If it did, that would be the end of her.

But for how long would she have to keep the wires in for? What did Chara say to them? Could she even survive on half a soul, now that the other half was gone?

These were all questions flying around her head, but instead she asked;

“Are you mad at me?”

Sans narrowed an eye socket at her; that wasn’t what he expected to hear in response to his explanation.

“why would i be?”

If it wasn’t for the fact she was stuck immobile in bed, Frisk would have shrunk away.

“Giving half my soul to Chara...you know them, right?”

It was at this moment Frisk realised that Sans wouldn’t know about Chara’s “evil” side. When they were around, they were only just an innocent kid.

“sure i do,” he exhaled heavily at the thought, “tori and asgore’s kid. what’s up with that?”

Frisk took this as a chance to side-line the conversation before it escalated, “Actually, nevermind...I remember them now,” she deflected, attempting to make him think the question beforehand was just a query about the person.

Judging by the look on Sans’ face, he sensed her disloyalty. He didn’t push any further, but the look in his eyes…he was hiding something.

But Frisk didn’t have the energy to do anything about it. If anything, she wanted to just go back to sleep forever and pretend none of this was happening. Just lay there and pretend she didn’t have half a soul. She felt, but…she didn’t feel as much as she used to.

It felt wrong.

Amongst the deafening silence in the room, Sans sighed lightly and cradled his head in his hands, as if attempting to ease a headache.

Frisk was waiting for Sans to say something else, there was so much to be said. What did they do with the other half of her soul? What happened to Chara?

But instead, he trudged out the room silently, leaving Frisk behind feeling confused and anxious.

Being unable to move, her eyes glazed over with a glassy layer of tears as she had no choice but to stare at the ceiling. She soon shut her eyes, and it didn’t take long for sleep to take over again.

* * *

In just the room opposite, lay a secret well-kept from Frisk and the other monsters. As Sans walked in, the door sealed shut, only a skeleton hand able to reopen it.

“hey, g,” Sans slowly paced over to the figure laying on his sofa, about as immobile as Frisk was, if not even more so, “the kid’s awake, she’s fine. you did it.”

Only a tired grunt alerted Sans to the fact that the other skeleton had heard. With great difficulty, he attempted to push aside the huge migraine encompassing his skull, his attention devoted to his two downed friends. He didn’t have time to deal with just a measly headache.

Sans rubbed the back of his head idly, “uh, she’s stable, i know you’d be worried ‘bout that. nothing’s changed. seems to be ok without the other half.”

There was a low grunt, and then a slurred sentence ground out, “I was not _worried.”_

Sans snorted, looking at Gaster’s half unconscious form upon his sofa, “yeah, ok.”

When they both found that Frisk’s soul had to be severed in half completely to remove the essence of Chara and the risk of her taking over, she nearly fell down. Unknowingly, Chara’s half of the soul was still attached to Frisk’s in some way, keeping her stable all this time.

But with only half a soul, it seemed to struggle on its own. Perhaps it was just used to having Chara latched onto it and needed time without her. Or maybe half a soul just wasn’t enough to sustain a life. Who knew? It was an occurrence that was new to them, and most of all to Gaster, who did _not_ like not knowing.

Healing magic was much more intensive that defence magic.

To save Frisk, Gaster expended all of his magic energy on her to keep her alive. Sans was able to back him up, but he couldn’t risk emptying his magic out like Gaster did. With only 1HP, there was no telling what would happen if he did. At least Gaster had an ungodly amount of HP and only needed to replenish his magic slowly with time.

However, it had tanked half of his health, and left him extremely fatigued and fading in and out of consciousness.

A tired voice threw him off his thoughts, “Have you delivered the half of the soul to the queen?”

Oh, yeah, that.

“yeah. she didn’t take it well.”

“How so?”

_what do you mean, **how so?**_

“well aside from giving her the remnants of the soul of her dead child back to her, i’m really at a loss as to why she didn’t take it well.”

For a second, Sans thought he heard Gaster chuckle under his breath. Must be _really_ out of it.

“she was confused about why Chara tried to get Frisk to hurt monsters.”

Gaster exhaled deeply, “I would assume living without a soul for so long changes someone.”

“yeah, although i have yet to understand why she did this in the first place. the merging timelines. the wounds Frisk and I had, and now attempting to take over Frisk’s body…”

“Considering the timeline we merged with was a genocide one, it would not surprise me if the human Chara was behind it. Being able to live on after death. Such determination is unheard of.”

“but here’s the thing I don’t get, g,” Sans tightened his fists in growing frustration, “everything has gone back to the way it was. the wounds are gone except for a scar, Chara’s half of a soul has been contained and given back to tori, and yet…” his eye sockets blanked, “you’re still here.”

At this, Gaster opened his eyes in surprise and met his gaze. “You think that I have something to do with this?”

Sans glared, “you’re the only one still here.”

It took him aback, because it was, well, the truth. Everything had presumably gone back to the way it was apart from him. He was an anomaly from another timeline and yet he still existed in this one.

“If Frisk attempted to right the genocidal effects on this timeline and corrected the injuries you both shared,” Gaster theorized, “then there is always the possibility that she did not attempt to ‘correct’ my existence. Would that not be a death?”

“unless you told her not to ‘correct’ you.”

“Sans,” Gaster sighed, trying to stay coherent over his exhaustion, “I assure you I have had no part in this. I am as surprised as you are.”

Sans let out a long breath and slumped onto the sofa beside him with a huff.

“sorry. just had to make sure.”

Gaster’s grave expression changed to a small smile, but he remained quiet.

For a few moments, there was a serene quietness enveloping the room, only the very distant sound of the computers humming gently in the background.

And then an alarm sound broke out, wailing and resounding across the room, jarring the skeletons from their few peaceful moments. On his feet instantly, Sans rushed towards the door, “stay here.”

Sans skidded into the room where Frisk lay, rising panic in his chest as the lights in the room began to dim red.

Skimming through the readouts, he lay eyes upon the problem.

_**S u b j e c t :** F r i s k_

_H P : 3.86/20_

_H P : 3.70/20_

_H P : 3.63/20_

_H P –_

“god damn it,” Sans muttered; the wire was connected to her soul, but her HP was still going down.

He glanced over to her unconscious form, her face pale as a sheet of Snowdin’s snow. Clearly all of Gaster’s magic wasn’t enough, and her soul was beginning to give up again.

But Frisk would be dead in the next 3 minutes if something wasn’t done.

Having made his decision, Sans’ pushed aside the risks to himself and called upon his own magic, the surrounding area lighting up a fluorescent blue as he lay his hands over Frisk’s chest, pouring as much magic in it as his body could stand.

“stay with me kid, stay with me,” he uttered, hoping Frisk could hear him. With bated breath he waited, for something to inevitably go wrong.

He watches her stats gradually increase. It was slow and painful, but it was steadily recovering.

As a test, he released his magic from her, only for the alarm to restart and the HP tanked again.

“ _shit_ ,” he murmured to himself, reigniting his magic instantly and hovering his hands over her body that was trying to give up on them.

And he waited. For a long time, he stood beside her, pouring magic he didn’t know he even had into her. There was no way he'd let her die, no way.

But minutes turned into an hour. And soon he had been there for as long as Gaster had.

His knees began to wobble, but he simply shifted in position to keep himself upright. His arms were on fire, both physically and metaphorically, the room blurring and spinning into a messy blue splodge.

But he had to keep going. This was the one time he couldn’t afford to be lazy.

There was no reset. This was it. No fixing this. If the kid died, they died. Or that's what Sans told himself as he forced more and more healing magic into her soul.

_just take it._

_do something._

_please._

Was this enough? How long had he been standing there? Staring at the blue blob, he continued.

Minutes later, another distant alarm sounded, on top of the one already there. What now?

_what am I doing wrong?_

_should I just stand here until it stops?_

_i can’t focus on anything._

As if in perfect timing with the alarm, Sans' knees buckled under the pressure, a lack of magic to sustain him. But he held onto the table, pushing more magic in, as if he couldn’t stop himself. He didn't hear himself growling out in distress, he wasn’t even sure what was going on anymore. He wheezed, spinning in circles as magic channelled across the room and flew everywhere. Eventually he tried to find Frisk again, tripping over himself.

Distantly, he felt a tug at his shoulder, and when that garnered no immediate response, a more forceful clap on the shoulder made him turn around.

Gaster’s form loomed before him, though he wasn’t sure if it was a memory etched onto his visual cortex.

“frisssk" he slurred, wheezing as he tried to find the human amongst the blue blurs.

Had to save Frisk. Need to save Frisk.

He couldn’t hear what Gaster was saying, but he had probably caught on as hands began signing in Wingdings.

Sans blinked and wearily tried to concentrate.

“ _Human stable._ ” The hands signed, or at least that’s what Sans assumed.

He shook his head; no, Frisk was dying.

Hands moved around in an almost urgent motion, “ _Calm_.”

Once again he shook his head, “no, frisk,”

“ _Calm_.” The hands repeated, over and over, until the message was embedded into his skull.

_“Human safe.”_

As time passed, the room eventually blacked over, and he collapsed to the floor with a _thud._

A heavy frustrated sigh resound around the room, As Gaster hauled Sans up and carried him out the room with urgency.

“You are ridiculous,” he uttered with concerned frustration, “Did you not listen to me? You cannot expend your magic like this, your body can’t take it,” he continued, dropping Sans onto the sofa he had just slept on moments before and started another round of healing—although not as much as last time.

“I will need to call the king and queen. It is not ideal, but their healing magic may be used more extensively than us. Although I had wished not to give this burden to them.”

He wasn’t sure if Sans could even hear; probably not, but he had to vent his turmoil somehow.

The next day, Gaster was sat reading an article about human souls, most of which he already knew about. Frisk remained once again in a stable state, no decline but no improvement either. Hopefully, all she needed was time.

Groggily, Sans began to stir, groaning as he opened his eyes in confusion. As the events of the day before came back to him, he sank back into the sofa with a long sigh.

“Frisk is stable for now,” Gaster informed him, not looking up from his book, “The Queen is currently healing her."

Sans furrowed his eyes in concentration, “tori?”

“Yes.”

Sans wasn’t sure how to approach the topic of last night. Tentatively, he tried, “sorry about last night. got out of control I guess.”

Gaster hummed in agreement, “That is an understatement."

Instead of being angry and giving Sans the cold shoulder, he did, surprisingly, hand him over a bottle of juice.

“Here,” he offered nonchalantly, “You must keep your energy levels up.”

Sans grinned, “thanks, G.”

The other skeleton simply gave a small smirk and continued his reading.

Sipping on the tomato juice, Sans idly wondered what his stats were. Probably...less than 1.

“what about asgore?” he asked, finding it unusual that he wouldn't accompany the queen in healing Frisk. Well...except for the fact she despised him.

“The King is guarding the half of Chara's soul. The flower has grown curious of it.”

Sans stopped slurping.

That never occurred to him.

“wow. nearly forgot that thing existed. been quiet.”

“A welcome peace, however.”

“yeah,” he smiled, “at least this isn't caused by him this time,”

Gaster hummed to himself, “He is but a mere child, curious to a new discovery. As would any other creature.”

Sans emptied the drink until the bottle crinkled, “the kid would have to willingly give it to the flower, right? like she did with Chara? so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yes. The human would need to give the soul to the Flower herself. That is what I am concerned about.”

Sans snorted and relaxed back into the sofa again, “she knows what she’s doing. can’t even do anything in this state anyway,” he recalled, subconsciously beginning to wonder how Frisk was doing. He reached for the portable monitor and began analysing it carefully.

Gaster leaned over to view it also. Happily, Frisk’s HP had increased to 14.65/20.

“That is an encouraging improvement,” he noted, allowing himself to relax a little more. Clearly Toriel's magic was working.

“I will check on them both,” he added, standing from the sofa, “Do not follow me. Stay there and recover,” he ordered without turning his back.

Sans only shrugged, watching the older skeleton leave the room. He took a shot at the bin with the carton of juice and got it in the bag.

“woo.”

* * *

In the room opposite lay Frisk peacefully on the table, an apprehensive Toriel’s gentle magic pouring into her hungry soul. Her face was etched with concern.

Gaster acknowledged her, “Hello, Toriel. I understand the child is fairing well. How about you?”

Toriel looked up from her task and smiled at him, grateful for some contact.

“I am doing alright. Although, Frisk is complaining of feeling cold,” she frowned, “I am not sure how to fix that.”

Nodding, he looked around the room for something that could provide the human comfort and warmth. There was his coat, but that's all he had. Most monsters didn’t feel the cold, least of all skeletons that lived in it.

Gaster barely hesitated, swiping up the white lab coat from its hook, draping it over the child and watched her face carefully. She didn’t seem to be conscious.

He drew his attention back to Toriel, who's expression was so torn it was obvious that something else was the matter other than the problem laying right in front of them.

“What is troubling you, your majesty?”

Toriel chuckled slightly at the mannerism, “I'm Toriel to you, Gaster. And there is nothing troubling me, but thank you for asking,” her face was still stern in thought.

Gaster twisted his neck, “I cannot believe that. Your mind wanders.”

The Queen froze and turned to him, “Is it that obvious?”

He shrugged, “I frequently must decipher Sans behaviour.”

“Point taken,” she smiled, but her face dropped as she focused back on Frisk, “Asriel wants to see her.”

Silence deafened the room.

“I presume you mean the flower.”

“Of course, you know who I meant,” her voice was tight with near frustration.

“You must remember that ‘it’ is a flower. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Despite the fact this attitude would clearly upset her, Gaster had no second thoughts.

Toriel visibly tensed, her magic swaying slightly, “ _It_ is still my son! You have no right to say such a thing!” she refused to face him; her gaze locked intensely on her illuminated hands.

“Perhaps for the five minutes he had a soul, or rather six of them,” he said, gritting his teeth, it was as if his mind were preparing for danger with the sheer mention of the flower.

Shaking her head, Toriel attempted to reassert her focus back on the child, “Well, he is my son and I will refer to him as Asriel if I please. And as your queen I ask of you to respect that decision.”

Gaster jaw clenched in visible frustration but ultimately relented. He couldn’t deny the wishes of a much higher authority, after all.

“seems they're just after the soul.”

The bitter taste of silence once again enveloped the room at the voice that shouldn’t be here. Sans was standing in the doorway, leaning heavily on the wall. Gaster narrowed his eyes.

“Sans. You should not be here.” Had he already forgotten his orders to remain in the other room and recover?

The disobedient skeleton shrugged, “bored of sleeping.”

There was a light chuckle from the motherly figure, “You? Bored of sleeping? You must be ill!”

“Precisely why he should not be up and moving,” the older skeleton’s voice boomed across the room, hands rapidly twisting in motions so fast even Sans couldn’t keep up. Thank heavens he was speaking in Standard as well as Wingdings or it would be a very vicious and confusing (for Toriel) hand dancing competition.

“honest, G, im fine.” Sans sighed, but then paced over to the kid, not convinced she was still unconscious. He grabbed a pen light from the table, waving it in Frisk's eye and snorting as her face scrunched up in annoyance.

“see? she's awake.”

Toriel, too, sighed in relief, releasing her hands from Frisk as her magic ebbed away.

Frisk pouted but twisted her neck to find Sans. When she found him, she smiled lazily, her eyes glazed over as if drunk.

Sans’ mouth twitched, “you feel more like yourself? that’s good.” He heard Gaster’s footsteps walking up behind him, “but make sure you take it easy, k?”

Gaster analysed the monitors. HP was fully restored. Clearly a mother's magic works.

“Oh, Frisk, I am so glad to see you awake my dear,” Toriel brushed the child’s bangs out her face, “How do you feel? Is there any pain?”

She shook her head no and began to yawn. Gaster craned his neck and looked at his subject with great interest. “There is still more work yet to be done.”

“she's not a lab experiment, G.”

Gaster scowled at the offending skeleton, “I am talking about the flower.”

Sans squinted, “flowe—oh.”

“I told you, Asriel will not cause any trouble!” Toriel spoke out, now able to approach Gaster in a somewhat intimidating stance now that she didn’t need to stand right next to Frisk.

“tori, how can you be sure?” Sans heaved a sigh—the last time Flowey had a soul he nearly killed everyone in the underground. Not that Toriel could remember that, but still…

“I can talk to him myself.”

Everyone in the room turned to face Frisk, who was already sitting up. Her eyes were still glassy, and her body was tipping slightly to the side, but seemed willing to help regardless. Toriel padded over to her quickly, disapproving the idea Frisk had of attempting to sit up already.

She reached for her and gestured to the table, “Frisk, dear, don’t you think it’s too soon to be sitting up? You’ve just woken from a terrible ailment; you should really be resting…”

Not wanting to upset the kind-natured mother, Frisk tentatively sat back, “But I want to help,” she insisted, desperately looking her in the eyes, “I can do something…we know things…that other people don’t know…”

“Oh? Like what?”

“like nothin’,” interrupted Sans, the deep stare he had on Frisk gave away his thoughts to her, “but not right now. especially not right now.”

“Maybe later?” Frisk’s eyes twinkled.

“maybe later.”

“Sans!” Toriel cried in disapproval, “You are not helping the matter!”

Under his breath, Gaster hummed in discontent, not liking the sound of any of this. Alas, he remained silent and allowed the others to argue.

He shrugged, “what can I say? kid has a knack at getting through to people. once she’s able to, i don’t see why not.”

While Toriel glared at him, Frisk broke out into a grin, “Thanks Sans.”

“Frisk talking to the Flower is not the issue at hand here,” Gaster jumped in, causing the child’s face to drop. Gaster almost always said something that would ruin their spectacular plans if he disagreed with it.

“I am more concerned with what the Flower would do if Frisk gave them the soul.”

“Frisk would not give Asriel the soul! He only wants to look at it! It’s the remnants of Chara, don’t you understand that?” Toriel pleaded. Sans tried to hide a deep sigh. The old lady had no idea.

“The six souls dispersed when the barrier was broken,” Gaster explained, then turned to Frisk, “If given a soul, and without the other souls to counteract him, the Flower will bring death and destruction to not just the underground,” he looked Frisk with fixed seriousness , “but the overworld, and the entire planet with it.”

* * *

**to be continued....** _insert game over music here lmao_


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Frisk decides she knows better than everyone else. So, she decides to bring someone back to life...Gaster doesn't agree.

**A/N: Hello my mcchickens. I hope you're all doing well. Bored, no doubt. Have no fear, here's another plot twist of a chapter to keep you busy. Chapter beta'd by Yours The Author, thanks again!**

_"Frisk will not give Asriel the soul! He only wants to look at it! It’s the remnants of Chara, don’t you understand that?” Toriel pleaded. Sans tried to hide a deep sigh. The old lady had no idea._

_Gaster turned to Frisk, “If given a soul, and without the other souls to counteract him, the Flower will bring death and destruction to not just the underground,” he looked Frisk with fixed seriousness, “but the overworld, and the entire planet with it.”  
_

* * *

* * *

“You cannot possibly think that this is a good idea.”

Gaster was incredulous. Frisk had approached them not even a day later, with a cunning plan that would most likely wipe out the entire timeline if things go awry. Yet, she continued to push him.

“I think it might work,” Frisk offered, holding her SOUL above her face, “But, in your opinion, do you think it will?”

A scoff. The soul was pushed away back into the owner's body.

“Do not ask me such inane questions,” he was disapproving, eyes cold, “And what will you do, if the Flower decides to wreak havoc upon us all? Take back the soul?”

Frisk glared at his contemptuous attitude.

“You cannot,” he continued, “Once you give up that half of the soul, it no longer belongs to you.”

“Oh? And what if I reset? Is that not an option?” Frisk spat, her face sly with the intent to taunt, “Bring you all back to square one. Make _you_ disappear. Would you like that better?” she felt herself shudder, her own words surprising her.

Gaster’s expression was wry, “If you are attempting to anger me, you are failing.”

She snorted, “Why would I want to anger you? I have all the control here, after all.”

_You were never the one in control._

Her breath caught in her throat.

Gaster must have oversaw her quick shift in expression; a slight eyebrow raise, questioning. But he remained silent, as if internally working out what was going through her head.

“I…just think it’s the right thing to do,” she finally admit, shouldering sagging in defeat. “And if things go as planned, he won’t ever be a problem again.”

Gaster narrowed his eyes, “You cannot know that. You risk this entire timeline for the sake of a murderous demonic flower?”

“That’s not the one we know,” Frisk smiled with her eyes, “ _Asriel_ didn’t do that. Once he has a soul, he’ll be like us again.”

The other man had a dark expression, “You cannot _know that”_ he repeated matter-of-factly. Gaster was visibly growing frustrated, but he hid it skilfully, “You are playing with our lives. Be content with what you have and leave this world alone.”

Frisk grit her teeth. Why was he being so difficult? So defensive? Usually he _loved_ messing with people’s lives, his little _experiments._ His _play things._

“I’ll do what I want, you can’t stop me,” she said, looking around for the door. A small part of her was waiting to be hauled in the air with blue magic and rammed into the wall. But the feeling never came.

Cautiously, Frisk turned back around, expecting some form of retaliation from the monster. But he only stood there, staring at her disdainfully.

She straightened up, allowing herself to exit the room knowing she was probably safe.

_I am the one in control._

* * *

Alone. This was how the ruins felt now that everyone was on the surface, but also how the flower—no, _Asriel_ must feel. Being stuck down here, the only face he would occasionally see was Toriel.

Was it punishment? Frisk didn’t know. But despite not having a soul, Asriel in his flower form had not yet stirred any more trouble.

Carefully, Frisk knelt onto the bed of pale golden flowers, being wary to avoid the living creature that had embedded itself into it. There was no sound but the faint howl of wind that brushed against her bangs.

She saw a shadow move, ever so slightly, before a certain flower peered around to face her. Asriel glowered at her, likely unsure of what to make of this intrusion.

“What do _you_ want?” he snarled. His voice was so thick with emotion that it wiped away any maliciousness in his tone. Ever since the battle to release the monsters from the surface, Asriel had mellowed.

Frisk dipped her head to the side and considered him, “You felt it, didn’t you?” she murmured, forcing herself not to smirk when Asriel face slightly lit up. “Mom told me you knew.”

Asriel’s form deflated and dropped his gaze to the musty dirt ground again.

“She isn’t _your_ mom. And…yeah, she told me. What’s it to you?”

Frisk sighed, moving her front onto the ground and waving her legs around, smiling innocently.

“ _What do you want!?”_ he snapped, twitching in impatience, although his voice was brittle, “If you just came here to wave the soul of my dead friend in my face you can leave, Frisk.”

Frisk frowned, a pitying expression that only seemed to annoy the flower even more.

“Go away.”

But she wasn’t going to give up on him. “That’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to make sure.”

Asriel caught her gaze, glaring at her quizzically, “Make sure of _what?”_

Frisk grinned at him with a sly expression, before raising a hand out in front of him. Half a soul materialised in her hand, and the flower went cross-eyed.

“W-what?” he stammered, practically vibrating at the object in front of him.

Frisk tilted her head, “Don’t you want it?”

Asriel gawked at her, his impassive cold eyes now dazed, but twinkling. “Really?”

If it weren’t for the fact she had to maintain her self-composure, Frisk would have laughed. Asriel’s now childish bewildered expression was a stark contrast to the demonic face she had been so used to before.

Frisk sat back and shrugged, leaving the soul to dance around in front of him. As she had hoped, Asriel hadn’t taken it—or ‘stolen’ it yet.

“But why?” he had asked, face filled with uncertainty. “Mom said you nearly died without it…why are you trying to trick me?”

She shook her head, “I don’t think I need it. Chara was attached to it which kept me alive,” she informed him, both locking eyes with the floating red orb, “So the way I see things, I can return it to myself and you continue to suffer, or give you a shot at another life. How about it?”

“But…Chara tried to take over your body. Wouldn’t that mean I would try to take you over too?”

Frisk smiled, “Chara didn’t have a body to come back to, she’s been gone a long time. But you have a physical form, brought back by determination. If you take half of my soul, which I will give to you willingly, you should regain your old form, like you did before.”

The flower remained impassive, as if something were stopping him from getting his greatest desire.

“It’s fine, Asriel,” Frisk reassured, pushing the soul closer towards him, “Everything will be fine.”

Asriel’s flower form swayed around for a few moments, as if contemplating the entire thing. Finally, a small green stalk reached out to grab the soul, pulling it towards himself. His eyes dazzled in anticipation, before he was enveloped in a bright white light.

Frisk jumped back, and she felt her own soul twist around as someone else claimed ownership over the other half. This time however it was given out of generosity, kindness, and most importantly, _love._

As the light faded, Frisk gaped at the fluffy creature on the ground that months ago, she had only been able to enjoy seconds with, just before Asriel had broken the barrier. But now it was back for real. _Asriel_ was back for real.

Finally, a timeline where this was possible. If only she had known sooner…

 _No,_ she shook the thought off, _it’s better now._

“Asriel?” she tiptoed over to fluffy child laying in the bed of flowers. He didn’t seem to be awake.

To her relief, he blinked open his eyes, bringing his hands towards his vision and gasping. “Oh my…I really am my old self now, huh?”

Frisk’s smile was soft; she offered a hand, poised to get up. They needed to get help as soon as possible. The realisation that what she had done, on her _own_ no doubt, was beginning to set in for her. It was dangerous and stupid.

She had to hide her worry from the now polar-opposite personality of Asriel.

“C’mon,” she encouraged, pulling him to his feet. He still mused over the fact he was walking again, staring down at his legs. “Let’s go back home to mom’s hou—sorry.”

But Asriel’s eyes twinkled, “It’s fine! I…I’m sorry I told you she wasn’t your mom. She totally is! I mean, she’s our mom now, right?”

She nodded, making her way towards the great purple door to exit the room of golden flowers.

Hopefully, with him being able to feel again, the other monsters would be just as accepting as Frisk was. But she didn’t quite know how she was going to break the news…

Back in Toriel’s home, Frisk pointed to the armchair that her mom used to sit in and gestured for Asriel to take her place.

“I’m…gonna call Alphys,” she said, taking out her phone. Asriel immediately obliged, seeming happy enough in itself that he was back in his own body. Slouching in the orange armchair, he looked at himself in amusement.

As per usual for the little yellow monster, Alphys picked up almost instantly. “H-hello? Frisk? We’ve been looking for you everywh—”

“Can you come down to the ruins? Mom’s old house? I…I need you to…check something,” she asked cryptically.

“Um…sure? Are-are you in danger? If you are I can send someone else—”

“Howdy!” Asriel shouted down the phone, unable to contain his excitement.

Frisk whipped a glare at him, while he shrugged innocently. The phone was silent for a few moments.

“Is…is that…?”

“Yep.”

“O-oh boy…”

“Yep.”

“How is that possible…I…what have you done?! Oh…oh no…you didn’t…”

“Yep.”

“Frisk… you…” Alphys stuttered. There was a distant voice in the background of the call that Frisk couldn’t make out. “No, no, it’s fine. E-everything’s fine…Frisk’s fine, at least…I think? I…I’ll be right there, o-okay? Don’t move!”

_Beep._

She hung up. Huh.

Asriel sat up, “So? Is she coming?”

Frisk pursed her lips, “ _Oh_ _yeah,_ she’s gonna be here alright,” she whirled around towards the kitchen to find something to eat. She was sure it would probably be amusing for Asriel, too.

Opening the fridge, she frowned, but kicked herself inwardly. Of course there would be no food here, it would have gone off by now since they all lived on the surface.

“We haven’t got any food,” Frisk called to him, slamming the fridge door shut, “I don’t know what to give you.”

Asriel threw his arms up, “It’s fine! I’ll wait! Maybe mom will make us some of that butterscotch pie? Do you think?” he chortled in a sing-song tone.

Frisk tried to hide a deep sigh, smiling instead to cover it. Asriel was _so_ much different with a soul.

“Sure, I’m sure she’ll give you so much of that stuff you’ll be sick of it by day two. Literally.”

It only took fifteen minutes for the door to knock, delicately but rapidly, which indicated Alphys was here but was rightfully panicked.

The door swung open, and the scientist rambled into the room, immediately locking eyes with Asriel and growing wide-eyed.

“Oh my god…”

Asriel jumped up, “Howdy! It’s me! I have a soul now!”

Alphys blinked, “And a body…”

“Yep! It’s all because of Frisk. She gave me the other half of her soul!”

Alphys’ face looked absolutely crestfallen. “Frisk…what have you done…?” she whispered, treading over to the armchair Asriel was sat in. “What if either of you fall down? You…you have no idea what could happen…even with Chara having half of your soul it was new to us, we didn’t know anything…and now you just…gave it away to Asriel…with…I don’t…”

Frisk craned her head and watched Alphys having a mini meltdown. It was to be expected.

“We can’t keep this secret, we can’t…” Alphys began, at war with herself, “I have to tell the others, but…” she stopped herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. At least she was trying to calm herself down.

“Alright…we’ll…we’ll deal with that later,” she decided, and knelt beside Asriel’s armchair with a case full of supplies, “How…how do you feel? A-Asriel?”

The child pondered for a moment, and shrugged happily, “I feel great!”

Alphys silently took the monsters’ equivalent of a stethoscope out the case and readied herself with it. Asriel leaned forward so she could take a reading easier, while Frisk watched in trepidation from behind.

Placing the chestpiece onto where Asriel’s soul would be, both of them met each other’s gaze. Alphys shifted uncomfortably. “Well…it works. T-though with only half a soul, your HP is only 10. I’m assuming it’s the same for Frisk…”

Frisk nodded, having found that out for herself already. Alphys ran a scanner over Asriel’s body and sighed heavily. Although, she seemed relieved.

“E-everything’s fine,” she confirmed, finally relaxing at the news, “I-it’s all fine…”

“See?” Frisk smiled at Asriel, “I told you everything would be fine.”

He smiled back, then turned towards Alphys, “Thank you. But…when can I see mom?”

Alphys froze, “U-um…it’s not me you should be thanking, really,” she quickly glanced over to Frisk and back to him, “But I-I guess we can see Toriel now if you really want to. Asgore—um, your dad should be reachable too.”

“Cool! Let’s go!” Asriel launched out of his seat and sprinted towards the door. Alphys let him go, knowing there wasn’t any danger here anymore. He would know his way around the underground anyway.

Frisk swallowed hard, anxious. No doubt she would be full of questions and grievances.

Meanwhile, in the perfect replica of New Home (or perhaps the New New Home now), Toriel stepped into the tiled kitchen, ready to begin cooking dinner for what would possibly be a _very large number_ of guests.

Alphys had called to explain that she was on her way up and had invited friends and family around to discuss _something_. She seemed rather distressed on the phone earlier, so she assumed it was probably something big.

Papyrus and Undyne were already in the living room having just finished a cooking lesson. However, as was expected of him, Papyrus was growing worried.

“Erm…where is my brother?” he asked to no-one in particular; anyone that knew would do. He was late. Again. But later than usual.

Toriel had been wondering the same, “I do not know, dear. It is usual for him to be late, is it not?”

Papyrus was unsure, “Um…well…”

“I heard him arguing over the phone with Alphys earlier,” Undyne had a huge grin on her face, “Bet he’s just trying to cool down before they come _face to face!”_

“A fight? Over what?” Papyrus craned his head to the side in thought, “My brother never gets angry!”

Toriel plodded into the room and set down some tea for her current guests. “I suppose he has had a bad day at work. Let’s not get ourselves worked up about it, shall we?”

As if on cue, the wooden door swung open, the small skeleton sauntering in, his expression grave.

“Brother!” exclaimed Papyrus, his face lit up, “I was beginning to wonder where you went!”

Sans’ eyes simply glazed over as if he hadn’t heard, his body heavy as he dropped onto the sofa beside him.

“Yeah! Where were you? I bet you have some juicy gossip to—”

“Let us not go there, Undyne,” Toriel cut in with a sharp stare, “Do not agitate him further.”

She began to pour out some water for the young skeleton, pushing the glass towards him.

Sans stared blindly at it.

An awkward silence fell across the room, no monster had any idea what to do.

“Brother?” Papyrus timidly touched his shoulder, “Are you alright, Sans?”

Finally, Sans heaved a sigh, leaning in to face the glass of water. He only shifted it around the wooden table with his fingers.

“gaster ain’t coming,” he finally relented, but caught the confused expressions his friends all shared.

He sighed. “sorry. just…weird day,” Sans muttered, impassively watching his reflection in the water. It wobbled as he nudged the glass around.

Papyrus narrowed his eyes. He rested his chin on his hands and watched his brother carefully.

“Sans, your days are always weird. This is different, I know it is…”

Undyne’s voice mellowed, but she persisted, “C’mon, punk, what’s the matter? Someone got you down? I’ll beat ‘em up!”

Sans snorted, “nah, nothing like that,” he took a sip of the water and exhaled again, “guess you’ll find out soon anyway.”

Toriel, Papyrus and Undyne shared confused expressions.

Eventually, door knocked, making everyone jump out of their seat in surprise.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Sans stood up to open the door.

Before he could even open it more than three centimetres, it flung open by itself with great force. A smaller iteration of Toriel burst through the door. Alphys sighed heavily as she shut the door after Frisk tiptoed in. She tried making her way over to a chair undetected.

“I’m back!” the creature threw his arms in the air, spinning around until he found what he was looking for, “Mom!”

Toriel stepped back, covering her face in shock, “Oh my” she gasped, wide-eyed, “…My child? Is that…? Is that really you?” her voice was quiet, wobbly.

“It’s me! Asriel!” Asriel jabbered, running up to hug her. Toriel froze into place, vaguely taking in the shocked looks of everyone else in the room. Except Sans, who’s expression was sullen.

“Ma…?” the child’s voice grew small, frowning at her lack of reaction.

Toriel shifted from her state of disbelief, slowly putting her hand around her son, “Yes…yes dear, I’m here.”

After this, everyone locked eyes with Frisk. She shrunk back in her chair, especially with Sans’ dark expression. His eyes bore into her.

Alas, she remained wordless, and Asriel once again took centre stage.

“I can live on the surface with you guys now! And everything will be okay!”

Toriel forced a smile. She knew she wanted this, but it was hard to overcome the shock. “Yes…yes dear. It will be alright.”

For the other monsters, the return of one of the royal’s children would be astonishing, a new hope; not that they needed any now on the surface.

But for Sans and Frisk…they knew.

And Gaster…he had watched, an unwilling audience from the void. As the Flower—Asriel, tried to destroy every living creature in the underground to become the self-proclaimed hyper-god of death.

Yet here he was, back in his true form, the soul and mind of a child running before them again as if nothing had ever happened. Nothing had ever…gone wrong.

Alphys huddled against the wall, overwhelmed with worry and a million different possibilities for how this whole thing _could_ go wrong. The king and queen could lose two more children all over again.

Undyne, atypically, sat beside her while Asriel continued rambling, taking her hand and holding it tightly while she came down from another anxious episode.

“He’s back…how can he be back?” Alphys was whispering, one hand over her head and the other gripping onto Undyne’s.

Asriel clung onto his mother, “Can you make me some of your awesome pie? Pleeease? It’s been sooo long!”

“I don’t know,” Undyne answered Alphys’ question, “But I have a feeling Frisk had something to do with it.”

“Of course I can, dear,” Toriel patted his head, twitching to make a move towards the kitchen but found herself still frozen in doubt. “I…in a moment, alright?”

“Sure,” Asriel grinned, finally letting go of her and running over to the human, “Thanks Frisk! I’m only here again because of you! I…I didn’t deserve your forgiv—” he stopped dead in his tracks, realising no-one else would know what he was talking about.

But the look Sans gave him, his eye sockets were empty. He swallowed hard.

“I…” he turned back to Frisk, “Just, thank you, okay?”

Frisk smiled, a genuine smile, patting his shoulder. She didn’t feel up to talking again right now.

As the evening went on, more monsters arrived to see the ‘spectacle’ that was happening in Toriel’s living room. Monsters grew more acceptant of the idea that Asriel was real, and they began to gather around him, submitting to his desire for attention.

Frisk took this perfect opportunity to leave and headed for the door.

With a heavy chest and tight throat, she lay a hand on the handle to open it.

But a stronger, bony hand grasped her wrist.

She shakily exhaled, knowing this was coming a mile away.

“kid.” The voice groused; it didn’t sound happy.

Her hand remained tightly grasped on the handle, staring into it as if willing it to open.

“kid. look at me.”

Grinding her teeth, Frisk released the handle and turned to face Sans, who's eyes were still empty.

“what the hell did you do.”

It was a statement, more than a question. A statement of pure disbelief.

Frisk didn’t know what to say, nor wanted to answer him. Instead, she locked eyes with the ground. His voice was quiet enough so the others couldn’t overhear.

“you have no idea what crap you've gotten us all into. that was stupid.”

“I know...”

“and a day after you recovered from nearly dying no less."

Frisk's arms felt like rocks by her side, “I know...it just felt right, okay? I had a chance to save him and I did,” she met his gaze, “You can't reprimand me for that.”

Sans eyes became vacant, “gaster said you were being...aggressive.”

She blinked, “Aggressive...?”

“yep. you were challenging him. threatening to reset the timeline to get rid of him.”

“I...I...” Frisk stuttered, mouth agape, “I didn’t...mean that! Obviously I wouldn't do it! He was just being difficult."

“difficult, huh?” his tone was thick with suspicion, mockery, “you had better not mean it.”

“I swear, he just really annoyed me. I wanted to bring Asriel back and he was just fighting me on it.”

Ultimately, Sans’ pupils returned to his sockets and he sighed. “well, I can’t lie. he's hell to work with. surprised you walked away unscathed.”

Frisk shrugged, “So am I, but it worked out good, right? Asriel is good, no-one got hurt.”

Sans made a sharp exhale noise through his nose.

“jeez, kid. what am I supposed to do with ya?”

Frisk offered nervous smile, “Let me off the hook?”

He snorted, “maybe. we’ll see how this pans out, huh?”

Considering what she had done, Frisk couldn't see how you could get any fairer than that.

* * *

**To beeee continuuueed! :)**

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The split-SOUL is having an effect on Frisk. A bad one. She keeps it until herself until she's forced not to. But is it too late?

**A/N: So anyway now uni is finished forever and I have a lot of free time for the time being...I'm half-way through chapter 14 so this one is quite short, but I hope you mcnuggets enjoy! Beta'd by Yours the Author.**

* * *

_“jeez, kid. what am I supposed to do with ya?”  
Frisk offered nervous smile, “Let me off the hook?”  
Sans snorted, “maybe. we’ll see how this pans out, huh?”  
Considering what she had done, Frisk couldn't see how you could get any fairer than that._

* * *

It had been three days since the ‘event’ occurred.

Nothing dramatic happened. There was no murder spree, neither halves of the soul failed their owner’s body and people seemed to be adjusting to the idea that Asriel was back in his true form.

And yet, something didn’t seem right.

In Gaster’s lab, the feeling of foreboding surrounded the room.

“i don’t understand,” Sans was saying, slouching idly on a chair. “what the kid did, it can’t happen. it’s impossible. something should’ve gone wrong by now.”

Two monsters sharing a soul was physically impossible.

So why hadn’t either of them showed up at the lab doorstep imploring the scientists for help?

“If something has gone amiss, I would presume they would not make the situation known,” Gaster answered his concern, “Especially not the human.”

“not the human, eh?” Sans snorted, but sighed and slid further down his seat, “guess not. it is their fault after all.”

“I agree,” Gaster raised an eyebrow at him, “They will not admit the grave mistake they made until they find themselves lying in it.”

He held back a chuckle, “look, G, i’m sure if we showed up asking to run some tests it’ll be fine. even more so if you’re not the one asking.”

Gaster glared, “If _I_ am not the one asking?”

“yeah,” Sans grinned at him, “you spook all the kids out.”

If looks could kill…

“How so?”

“well, for starters you have a reputation for being a bit of an asshole.”

Gaster dug his hands into his pockets “A bit of a…” he narrowed his eyesockets incredulously at him, “I beg your pardon?”

Sans nearly laughed out loud at him, shrugging and deciding to drop the subject before one of them went blue in the face. In the air. Against a wall.

“let’s just forget it and go see them when we can, alright?”

Gaster seemed to be deeply debating whether to press on with an argument or just let it go. In the end, for him, logic always won.

He let his features to mellow and exhaled, “Very well. I will approach the Flower…Asriel. You have better relations with the human, perhaps you can coax a response out of them.”

"might see if I can get my bro to talk to them. he's less...intimidating."

"As you wish."

Sans made a grunting sound and slouched even more, this time over his desk. Any further and he would probably merge into the metal.

Sounds like they were both going to have to become journalists for the day.

_24 hours later..._

“Friiisk!” Asriel whined, swinging around the child’s chair, “Why does Papyrus always have to follow us?! I wanna go on an adventure!”

Frisk glanced up from the book she was reading and glared in annoyance. A sheen line of sweat began to bead across her forehead.

“Cause no-one trusts us."

 _Especially not you,_ she thought.

“But I wanna play!”

A boisterous voice sounded from behind them.

“You can play outside! I, the Great Papyrus, will protect you!”

Asriel groaned, “But I don't wanna...”

Papyrus’ face lit up, “Wowie, you do change your mind quickly!”

Frisk grasped the edges of the book tighter, “Look, Azzy, we can’t go outside on our own,” she grumbled, ignoring the child’s brightened expression and glancing back down at the pages, “We’re not allowed.”

Asriel launched out from behind the armchair and did a little excited dance, “You called me Azzy!”

“It’s shorter than Asriel.”

“It’s so…cute! Boy, I want everyone to call me that!”

Frisk offered nothing more than a tight-lipped smile, looking away back down to the book.

Frowning, Asriel paced back to her and tilted his head, “You doing alright there?”

_I feel like I’ve been dipped into Hotland’s lava, but…_

With a sigh, Frisk closed the book and heavily placed it on the armrest, locking eyes with him, “I’m fine.”

He gave an innocent smile, “You’re gettin’ a little tetchy there, Frisk!”

_I just don’t have the patience right now with this…fever, or whatever it is._

Frisk swallowed hard, immensely aware of the sweat on her forehead and increasingly clammy hands. It was _annoying._

“I think I just need some sleep,” she suggested, looking towards Papyrus for some backup.

He seemed to recognise the plea for help in her face.

“Yes! I am sure a good nap will do you a world of good!” He agreed, taking her wrist and pulling her upright, “Come along, human!”

Too tired to fight and quite frankly _desiring_ the idea of being unconscious, she allowed her tall friend to lead her away.

As soon as they were out of Asriel's hearing range, Papyrus turned to her while walking, “Are you feeling quite alright? Your hands are rather sweaty and hot, and that’s not normal for you humans! I know, because I read a manual,” he stated proudly.

Frisk shrugged the invasion off, “Yeah, guessing I’m just really tired.”

Then she narrowed her eyes at him, “Wait, you've read a _manual?”_

“I hope it’s just fatigue too...if you get sick you won’t want to try a bite of my delicious pastry meals, home cooked by yours truly!”

Frisk snickered at this, pushing open the dark oak door and heading straight for bed.

“Well, I shall bid you goodnight!” Papyrus waved, promptly closing the door.

Frisk exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

It felt like she could finally relax for the first time all day without being _watched._

Frisk practically sagged flat on her face onto the bed, snuggling into the warm blankets.

She prepared for what would be a very fitful night, and some peace and quiet.

_Why can’t I sleep._

_Why do I keep waking up._

_For the love of the entire underground just let me sleep._

It seemed every time she managed a drift off, a throbbing pain in her head reared it’s head, pulling her another step away from the kind abyss of sleep.

Pressing a jittering hand to her head, she groaned at the anguish of it. But the minutes continued ticking on, and every moment was precious. Each minute wasted was another minute she would have to be awake and _feeling_ this.

Throwing her head onto the pillow in near rage from the unfairness of it, she managed to let go.

As the morning drew closer, so brought an end to the restless night. Orange sunlight hit Frisk's window, a warmth tickling her already clammy skin. The headache hadn't stopped.

Heavy eyes refused to open, and she groaned as the true state of her body began to surface. Her arms and legs ached as if weighed down by a hundred books, laying in an uncomfortable pool of sweat.

Illness had apparently struck in the night, leaving Frisk feeling tired and grouchy.

Bright florescent red lights bled through her blurred vision, with only her memory to remind her that it's form belonged to a digital clock.

The digits merged together and drifted apart, until Frisk's brain was able to decipher the time.

11:37am.

Not too late...so...

Without a second thought, she closed her weary eyes and allowed herself to be whisked off to sleep once more.

“Oh dear.”

_Ugh._

Who dared to disturb her from her sleep? Everyone should _know_ she needs sleep. Not like they even know she was ill but still...

_I'm sleeping._

“Frisk, dear, you look awfully unwell...”

_I’m still sleeping. Don’t talk to me. I’m not awake so there’s no point._

“Asriel told me you were awake,”

_Oh for—_

“He heard you tossing and turning so I came to check if you were alright.”

Frisk managed a soft moan and whacked an arm over her eyes and pounding head. “He heard...? How?”

Toriel chuckled, “He has very sensitive ears.”

_Good to know._

“Are you alright, dear?”

Frisk growled in frustration, “Yes, yes I'm fine. Was _sleeping,”_ she spat.

Toriel seemed unaffected by her attitude, “If you don't mind my saying, you look very pale and clammy,” she pointed out, angering Frisk with her traitorous body.

“I said I’m probably just ill. A normal cold for humans.”

Toriel was interested, “Oh,” she tilted her neck. Curiously, she changed the subject.

“Asgore is hosting a dinner party for the prince's return; but I suppose now you can't come,”

Frisk felt the anxiety roll up in her stomach; if she didn't attend it would be sure to raise suspicion. The ambassador _always_ attends.

“When is it?” she grumbled, eyes still shut.

“Tomorrow tonight at 6. Everyone will be there, but if you cannot attend...”

“I'll be there,” she interjected, sure of herself, “I’ll be fine.”

There was a strained silence from the creature, before she decided, “You do not look at all well, what if something were to--"

“Mom,” Frisk opened a single eye and glanced at her, “I’m _going_.”

Toriel seemed to be at wars with herself for a few moments. “My child, _one_ missed dinner will not be a problem...”

“I want to go,” the child insisted, growing frustrated, “If I feel too bad I'll go home.”

The motherly figure looked as if she was internally scolding the little one, a sour expression on her face, “You must promise me you will not stay there if you feel too unwell.”

Sighing, Frisk threw an arm over her face in exasperation, “Yeah, I promise.”

Toriel smiled, albeit wearily, “Alright, then.”

* * *

Quiet mumbling resounded across the busy room, clattering plates and distant conversations of the king talking to his subjects. Vaguely, a door squeaked open as more monsters stumbled in, apologising for being so late.

Frisk on the other hand sat at the end of the long table, a sinking feeling in her gut as she lay eyes upon all the other creatures, happy and smiling, but not because of her. Asriel was next to her though, talkative as ever and interacting excitedly with those around him.

Pressing her tired eyes into a blink, Frisk glanced down at her empty plate. It was a banquet, but she did _not_ want to eat anything. She had to think of something soon, though, otherwise people would start to question her not eating. And besides, she didn’t want to upset Asgore.

Frisk wanted nothing more than to drop her pounding head onto the cold plate and lay there for an indescribable amount of time. If only she wasn’t in front of the majority of monster-kind.

Vaguely listening to the crackling sounds of the wood fire, Frisk lazily stabbed a fork into some brown meat, scraping it onto her plate and sighing at the contents. She was _not_ hungry.

“Are we gonna get a speech?” someone asked, but they were too far across the room for Frisk to be able to see them.

“Yeah, give us a speech, sire!”

The king chuckled, “Well…I didn’t know my speeches were so famous!”

Distant chatter accompanied the room again, and Frisk couldn’t help but tune into the mindless laughter supplemented by obnoxious laughter…

The sound of a child laughing, the pop of a wine cork…

The scrape of a knife, to clanging of cutleries, the rustling of napkins, coughing and the wail of a baby monster, footsteps on wooden floorboards, liquid pouring into a glass—

Frisk couldn’t stop herself from gasping, immediately clamping her mouth shut. Her mind fired demands at her to leave, to get out of this noisy area, to just be alone and _stop the noise._

She spent so long staring intensely into her plate and tuning into the noises that she didn’t hear a voice calling her name from the left.

Frisk jerked up, whipping her head to the side to face whoever requested her attention. A blue creature that resembled Snowdrake was looking deeply at her.

But there wasn’t a moments rest from the auditory overload and the thoughts that accompanied them, so she snapped hurriedly, “What?”

“If you don’t want that, I’ll have it!”

“Snowy! Don’t be rude!”

So it _was_ him, then.

Asgore leaned forward attentively, “Yes, Frisk, is there something wrong with the food? Is there anything else you might like?” he appeared downcast by the fact she wasn’t eating.

“No, da—your majesty, I guess I’m just not feeling it.”

The king bowed his head, “Very well. You are, after all, our special guest,” he looked to Asriel for emphasis, “You are the reason why we are here today.”

“I know…” Frisk mumbled. Asriel being here was great and all, but she really didn’t want to think about it. Especially not since…--

“Frisk has been a little under the weather lately, so it is no big surprise that she does not feel up to eating,” Toriel butted in from a suspiciously wide distance from Asgore across the table, “Let us continue.”

Everyone carried on eating, and Frisk gave a subtle nod of thanks to her mother. She smiled back knowingly.

Frisk did her best to ignore the jitteriness of her hands, clamminess coating her skin. There was a rising tension in her arms, as if something were trying to claw it’s way to the surface of her skin.

Aware of the penetrating stare of Toriel that bore into her, she forced her muscles to relax, attempting to pick up the fork again with more gentle fingers.

Glancing down at the plate which now swayed and bent out of shape, she shuddered. A sickness rose up her throat as conversely every muscle in her body grew weak and slack.

She managed to nibble on the food, which seemed to satisfy Toriel as she finally looked away from her and began talking to the others.

Exhaling, Frisk took another bite, but her vision immediately turned double, unable to stop herself swaying.

Her mind now driving into fight-or-flight mode, Frisk released the fork, clattering onto her plate which no doubt drew attention from everyone else.

She forced herself to exhale, before her body entirely gave way. Plunging sideways and from the hard ­ _thwack_ and subsequent pain in her arm, she hit the wooden floor.

Frisk vaguely heard distant gasps, yelling and chatter from the other attendees, but at this point she was too far gone now to care. She needed the floor and the floor needed her.

The rest of the room had drowned out from her senses, and she gazed down at her hands, tingling and warm.

Someone touched her back, and she yelped, throwing her arms out in front of her. Simultaneously, a plate shattered across the ground, in perfect detail as if in slow motion. Eyes agape, she glanced down at her own hands that somehow were able to achieve such a feat.

In both shock and realisation, she snuck a glance at Gaster who was in front of her; everyone else seemed to be panicking and jabbering in shock, but he remained silent and impassive. If it wasn’t for the look in his eyes that gave the surprise away, she would’ve thought he didn’t care.

All at once, the sensation in her arms became overwhelming, while distantly she were aware of Gaster whirling to Sans and taking an urgent dive onto him before she instinctively curled in on herself. Her mind and body erupted with warmth, like fire coursing through her muscles.

The sensation burned as it expelled from her body, and distantly she heard erupting screams and panicked yelling followed by the sound of smashing glass. But she didn’t want to move or even _look_ to see the damage she caused.

She only lay there, sweat matting her skin, the only sound she could focus on was being her own laboured breathing.

Something tugged at her subconscious, as if trying to warn her of something, clawing its way into the temporary respite of her pain.

Frisk wasn’t sure how long she had been motionless on the floor for, but eventually _someone_ must have deemed it safe to go near her again as a clammy hand was lifted from the ground, two firm fingers pressing into her wrist to determine her pulse.

To see if she was still alive? Possibly, considering she hadn’t moved for a while. And there was an explosion.

She couldn’t think in coherent sentences.

Maybe it was better to just let herself sleep.

She let herself sink.

* * *

Frisk had been oddly quiet throughout the entirety of the feast and given how talkative Asriel was being, this obviously wasn’t a normal occurrence.

There was something wrong, although Toriel had already excused her saying she was under the weather.

Narrowing his eyes, Sans watched Frisk from the other side of the table, who was looking remarkably absent from her surroundings, fiercely staring down a plate.

He watched as Frisk timidly picked up her fork, her body slumping to the side slightly. She still nibbled away at it though, so he emptied his drink of orange juice in one gulp and gently nudged his brother.

Papyrus turned to him quizzically, swallowing a mouthful of food, “What is it, brother?”

Sans put his drink down, “pap, you think you can try making conversation with the kid?”

His brother’s eyes went up, “You mean Frisk? Why of course! I will be the perfect distraction from their illness!” he raised his voice, “Human! I require a friend to tell jokes to. Will you appease me on this matter?”

Frisk on the other hand seemed far more interested in her plate, vacantly swaying back and forth as if possessed by something.

Papyrus frowned, “Brother, why is the human not paying attention to me?”

Sans was growing increasingly concerned by the minute, “i dunno, they’ve been spaced out as hell this entire dinner and i was trying to find something to get their attention,”

Pursuing his last bite of food with a fork, Papyrus furrowed his brow and thought long and hard about how to distract the human. Eyes lighting up, he dug a hand into his pocket and brought out a phone.

“I could give them this? Perhaps I could show her the entirety of my social media webpage!”

Sans snorted, peering over to his phone that was filled top to bottom with text, “we’re trying to amuse her, not send her to sleep,” he jested, chuckling as Papyrus made a noise of disapproval.

****

**_Crash!_ **

****

The buzzing room fell silent as the sound of a fork clashing into a plate startled everyone.

“Oh goodness, what was that?”

Sans immediately glanced up, finding Frisk had gone white as a sheet, promptly toppling over sideways and hitting the wooden ground.

Everyone was agape, gasping voices followed by clashing of utensils enveloped the room as monsters gathered their wits and stood up to help her.

Surprisingly, Gaster was already on the case, having already been half-way across the room before anyone else had moved, clearly sensing something was off a mile away.

A circle of people formed around Frisk, the child on her knees and appearing very confused. Glassy brown eyes were unfocused as if just awoken from a deep sleep.

Papyrus traversed over, kneeling beside and gently touching her shoulder.

“Are you—”

Frisk yelped a guttural cry in surprise, jolting away from the touch and throwing her arms in the air as if bracing for a fall that would somehow be further than the floor she was already kneeling on.

Instantaneously, a plate whizzed past them, shattering against a table leg and spitting out glass everywhere.

Gaster caught a glimpse of a both frightened and pained expression on Frisk’s face, staring him straight in the eye. The silent expression spoke to him, and somehow he knew what was going to happen next.

Before Sans could react, Gaster immediately launched onto him just before a wave of red expelled from Frisk’s body, sending everyone in its path flying across the room and flipping the enormous table over onto its side with ease.

The once peaceful joyous room broke out in screams as monsters feared for their life and tried to get away. Gaster remained covering the at-risk younger skeleton, unmoving until the child had stopped expelling red energy.

 _Red_ **_magic_** _,_ Gaster thought to himself.

_I had suspected all along that the split soul would have consequences._


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk's newfound magic causes a problem for everyone. Gaster tries to be nice but gives up after 5 seconds

_Before Sans could react, Gaster immediately launched onto him just before a wave of red expelled from Frisk’s body, sending everyone in its path flying across the room._

_The once peaceful joyous room broke out in screams as monsters feared for their life and tried to get away. Gaster remained covering the at-risk younger skeleton, unmoving until the child had stopped expelling red energy._

_Red **magic** , he thought to himself. I had suspected all along that the split soul would have consequences._

* * *

She woke up to the shrill sound of tinnitus in her ears, followed by muffled speech of hundreds of voices around her growing in volume. It was impossible to understand a single word, let alone who was saying them.

At least the panicked screaming had stopped.

Heart-racing in her throat as memories began to resurface, she vaguely felt her arms beginning to tremble again. Her ears tuned into her own rapid breathing.

Muffled in the background of her own gasping was a female voice, the words incomprehensible but allowed her to realise that she was not alone in the room.

Frisk nearly jumped at the familiarity of firm fingers once again pressing against her wrist, followed by a low voice.

The longer she remained awake listening the stifled sound of people around her, the closer she grew to cognizance. From behind her, a softly spoken voice sounded, accompanied by another voice of a lower tone. She tried to figure out who they both belonged to.

One figure was perilously close to her, whose whereabouts was the owner of the serious voice that had remained nearby throughout this ordeal.

Unsure of why she hasn’t tried as of yet, Frisk opened her eyes with a struggle. It was tiring, as if the sheer action of looking upon the blurred images of monster figures was mentally draining somehow.

The first face was vaguely identifiable as the skeletal monster. It wasn’t the small one, and the taller one wasn’t so monotonous and low. That only left Gaster. Of course.

Who else?

She did find it a little odd that him of all people were coming to her rescue more than her other friends, which must mean something was up.

Frisk blinked, a million questions circling her head as she stared up hazily at Gaster. He looked back down at her quizzically, as if somehow he expected her to be able to read his expression or words.

It was hard enough trying to understand him normally, much less when everything is a muffled blur both visually and audibly.

“Frisk? Can you understand me?”

Or perhaps not.

Intrigued, Frisk tried to sit up, endeavouring to move her lips to reply, but the numbed tissue just made some strangulated noises before giving up entirely.

There went _that_ idea of communication.

Frisk resorted to her old method and shook her head.

“Well, evidently you can, otherwise you would not be replying.”

She shrugged, slumping back down onto the floor, exhausted from the sheer effort of moving.

“It is intriguing to know blue magic has this effect on humans. Or perhaps only you. In either case, you can focus on me now.”

Come to think of it, the outskirts of her vision had tinted a light shade of blue. She vaguely recalled blue magic being used by Sans a few months ago to stop the panic attacks. Maybe this is what it was now?

She was pulled out of her thoughts from an unexpected lecture.

“What you did was foolish behaviour and completely unprecedented. You have not only endangered yourself but those around you.”

Frisk softly exhaled, blinking ever so slowly.

“...how?” the word came out more like ‘ _ow’._

“How? You really are unaware of the predicament you are in?”

Either her eyes were playing tricks on her or Gaster seemed bemused. Frisk could only watch him with an anxious twist in her stomach.

“Somehow with your effort to restore the life of Asriel...” He gestured down at Frisk's hands, “You have acquired magic.”

Alarmed, Frisk instantly jolted back, frantically waving her hands around like turbo-charged windmills as if to shake off the magic.

“That will do you no good. Besides, you have already destroyed the hall and injured several citizens.”

Frisk sharply inhaled, bile rising to her throat.

“gaster, stop,” a voice interrupted from behind her, and suddenly she was aware of the hand firmly resting on her shoulder. “this isn’t helping.”

Looking around, the true aftermath of what had happened began to sink in. A lengthy wooden table had tipped onto its side, most of the timber chairs that had accompanied it had broken from the legs, resting into broken glass. The majority of civilians had deserted the hall, the others only being the immediate unit to help.

But distant music continued to play a happy tune, reverbing around the large empty room without reason.

“I didn't...know...how...I didn’t...”

She gazed down at the offending hands, which were still dimly glowing red.

“ain't your fault, kiddo. you were just trying to do the right thing,” Sans’ face appeared in front of her, blue magic ebbing from his eye.

_So that’s where it came from._

“It was an act of carelessness,” Gaster glared, “With a human obtaining magic, one can only guess what it will do to you and the other monsters.”

Frisk squirmed, “But it didn’t happen to Asriel which means the other monsters will be fine.”

Gaster narrowed his eyes, “It is not he that I am concerned about.”

There was a disgruntled sigh, “c'mon, g, that ain't gonna solve anything.”

“Do you too not understand the dire situation that the human has--" he cut himself off as Frisk's eyes rolled back, sagging unwelcomely into his side. “...put us into.”

Both monsters stared at the supposedly unconscious figure digging into Gaster’s side for a few moments before they did something about it.

With hidden concern, Sans dragged the child away from the older man and onto his lap, “guess we're using a shortcut now.”

Gaster only stared incredulously at the human before nodding.

“Perhaps we should call Doctor Alphys for help,” he offered, then instantly vanished into a puff of black smoke.

Sans gave a breathy exhale, collecting the kid into his arms before following suit.

* * *

It was incredibly obvious to Frisk where she lay when she came around. No longer was there the smell of fresh food, or the sound of melodious music. She didn’t realise until now how much of a comfort it was.

Now, she lay on a very cold, rock-hard surface that made the wooden floor of the hall seem fit for a king. Well…almost.

It was no humble abode. The air was musky and cold. Just with the thought of it, Frisk’s hairs stood on end to protect her from the icy bite of the lab.

 _They’ll probably figure out I’m awake soon_ , she thought, deciding to take inventory of herself before the other ‘guests’ showed up.

Frisk inhaled a deep breath and opened her eyes. Looking down upon herself, she wasn’t surprised to see wires sticking out of her arm. Following the trail, it looked as if she was hooked up to a dozen different machines, recording, logging, monitoring…but monitoring what?

Curious, her mind brought her back to the events that led to this. They were simply eating at a banquet, then all of a sudden she was on the floor…there was screaming, and yelling, and smashing, and…red. Was it blood? If it was, it wasn’t her own. She wasn’t bleeding.

Unless…

_Oh._

_Oh no._

_She’s back?_

Feeling her gut sink, Frisk grasped onto the edge of the table, bed, _whatever it was_ , trying to steady herself.

She sat up, room spinning, but that didn’t matter. Current comfort didn’t matter. She had to get _out_ and hide again before she hurt anyone else.

Looking behind her, there was no-one here, _yet_. She had a chance to escape, but probably only mere minutes.

Ripping the needle out of her vein, an alarm sounded beside her, and she knew she was out of time.

Frisk hobbled over the trial of wires dangling on the floor, running barefoot across the cold tiled ground, heart racing in her chest at the possibility of being found.

_“FRISK!”_

_No, no no no. Not yet._

_How could they realise already?_

But the voice was distant, questioning, so they hadn’t _seen_ her yet.

Having absolutely no clue where the exit was, Frisk decided to just keep running and hope for the best.

Darting around a wall corner, there was nothing but pitch blackness.

_Do I run into it? Or do I go back and find another—_

_“FRISK?”_

She ran.

Hoping she didn’t run face first into a wall.

Hands sprawled out in front of her, she slowed down to a near sprint as she tried to navigate her way around the apparent labyrinth that was Gaster’s lab.

_SLAM!_

Frisk clamped her mouth shut, holding back the urge to scream in fear. Something was near, _someone_ was getting closer.

“Get the hell away from me!” she yelled into the blackness, taking a step back and finding her back hunched up against the wall.

Quiet muttering sounded from behind her. She continued running.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins, eyes growing wide as the invisible walls of the dark room was closing in on her—something touched her shoulder.

“ ** _No!_** _Don’t touch me!”_ she screamed, desperately whirling around for another route out, but it was so dark she forgot which way was forward.

“kid, you need to calm down,” she heard from behind her, low and steady.

“Don’t you get it? I’m dangerous, stop trying to find me! I’m getting away from you for your own good. I’m trying to save you!”

The hand touched her shoulder again, this time more firmly. Her leg muscles tensed up to run, but she wouldn’t move. In fact, her legs were moving but she wasn’t going anywhere. She looked down to her feet, to see them encased in blue.

“we don’t need saving, you’re just scared. it’s fine,” Sans murmured from behind him, and only lord knows where Gaster was.

Then a familiar feeling returned. The burning in her veins, the tingling and ache in her muscles.

“You need to go,” she whispered, intensely focusing on not erupting into what was probably a ball of death for the second time. Her knees wobbled slightly.

“well, i’m not leaving,” he insisted, apparently uncaring for the red glow that was mixing with his blue.

“You _have to go,”_ she croaked, hugging herself in an attempt to stop the eruption, “You **_have to go!”_**

She cried out as searing pain shot through her wrists, collapsing to the floor and dangerously close to a repeat of the events earlier. A bright blood red glow illuminated the dark room.

“Frisk,” Sans muttered in what seemed like frustration—and Frisk shared that frustration. He was only 1 HP, if he stayed here a second longer… “you can control it.”

“…I can’t.”

“you can, magic has to be controlled. i struggled at first too, you know.”

“It’s not magic,” she whimpered, hands trembling, “I’m human, it can’t be magic. It’s…it’s…”

_It’s Chara…_

“ok, so it’s not happened before. but you’re the first. you’ve held it off so far, yea? that’s longer than in the hall.”

Frisk snivelled, glancing upwards. But unexpectedly, the monster stood before her was not Sans, but Gaster, mincing up to her like he was on a dangerous mission.

“gaster, no. don’t you dare,” she heard from behind her. But the look in his eyes…was not sympathy. He was definitely not like Sans, that was obvious.

Fear ramping up again, she scuffled back across the floor, shielding herself.

A wall of red energy appeared in front of her, and it took Frisk a second to realise it was _her_ creation, not Gaster’s.

The taller monster stopped in his tracks for a second, glaring at it as if trying to figure out whether it would be harmful.

Frisk shrank into herself at the piercing glare from the tall figure, but willed herself to create more walls, to protect herself.

“kid, you don’t need to do that,” she heard Sans say. The monster in front of her obviously intended to harm her, but her friend from behind was pleading with her to do the opposite.

Gaster hummed lowly, an eye lighting up white as magic surrounded him.

A cluster of tears formed in her eyes, and she whispered, “I don’t know what to do…”

She almost jumped as a blue light spilled from beside her, Sans’ small figure finally deeming it safe to sit down.

“you can take those walls down for a start.”

Frisk sniffled, “but then he’ll hurt me.”

Sans chuckled lowly, “nah he won’t, and you know why?”

Frisk turned to face him. A dimly lit eye suddenly lit up blue, and it took everything in her not to leap back.

“yeah, cause I won’t let him.” He made a point of himself by comfortably sitting on his knees, signifying he was going to stay there.

A wary smile surfaced on Gaster’s mouth as he realised what was going on. But in his eyes, Sans was still 1 HP and one wrong move will cost him his life if the dangerous child wasn’t subdued.

Effortlessly, he threw a hand up, and the last thing Frisk saw was a stream of white heading straight for her—and then nothing.

* * *

Sans grit his teeth at the sight of the child yet again knocked out on the floor. The red magic-powered wall dissipated soon after.

“what the hell is the matter with you?” he spat towards Gaster, lifting the kid up with blue magic and beginning the walk back to the main lab.

Gaster stared stiffly at him, apparently in one of his untalkative moods.

“This is the thanks I get for saving your life?”

“i nearly got through to her,” Sans growled, dropping the child onto the table, “she needs to control it. she’s gonna get nowhere if you keep menacingly knocking her out to _save me.”_

The other man watched him wordlessly, carefully hooking Frisk up to monitors, deep in thought.

“the first time? yeah i get it, i wasn’t expecting that, no-one did. but now we do, and i’m capable of taking care of myself.”

It almost annoyed Sans, the fact Gaster wouldn’t respond. Wouldn’t explain himself or apologise. But he knew better than to push. There was usually _always_ something. A reason.

He had just chosen this moment to be particularly stubborn.

Or lost in thought. Possibly both.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Sans shook off the frustration and watched Frisk’s eerily peaceful sleep. The only thing they could do now was wait for her to wake up. Again.

* * *

For Frisk, waking up from that was like coming round from a fever dream. It might as well have been considering she was still sweating buckets. Her entire body had been lined with more analytic equipment, but she had chosen to stay there for a while, relishing in the brief respite.

After staring at the iron black ceiling for what felt like an eternity, Frisk decided it was time to get out.

Hoisting herself into an upright position, she tore off the hanging wires and began to look for an escape. But a cloaked figure was already waiting for her across the other side of the table.

Tilting her neck, her forehead creased as she tried to figure out who it was.

“Uh…hey?” she sat forward; the cloak piqued her interest.

At the sound of her voice, the figure spun around. Recognition dawned on Frisk’s face.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Gaster said, finding his way over to her.

Frisk paled and scrambled back until she tipped off the edge of the table. She yelped and ended up on the floor, grasping the sides of the table to keep herself steady.

He observed her for a while, before to her surprise, he stepped back.

The two creatures merely watched each other from opposite ends of the table as if she were a zoo exhibition.

Once Frisk was satisfied that he wasn’t going to send her flying across the room, she let up.

“Where’s Sans?” she asked first, wondering the whereabouts of the only creature that would be able to protect her from the monster in front of her.

He studied her for a second before providing an answer, “He has taken a break.”

Frisk snorted, “A break? From what? Doing nothing for hours?”

The corners of his mouth lifted, “It appears that he would need a break from taking breaks.”

Frisk gave a half-smile and giggled to herself. The sound filled the room with much needed glee before it fell into uncomfortable silence again.

She locked eyes with the ebony table, still grasping onto it tightly, not daring to look the other monster in the eye.

Eventually, the silence broke as footsteps from him crept slowly towards her. Her knuckles became pale.

There was still thundering anxiety in her chest; she wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. And yet, this time, she knew he was _trying_.

Frisk’s stare bore into the metal so hard it could break. Her breath caught in her throat, foreboding. She sensed him looming around behind her, her mind begging her to _run_.

Eventually there was a strained sigh, and a hand clasped her on the shoulder. She jolted, hands shaking.

“Human, sit down. I will not hurt you.”

Her eyes swam with tears as she chewed her bottom lip, _“I don’t trust you.”_

Another beat of silence.

“I understand. However, this behaviour needs to stop. You need help, and I cannot help you if you act this way.”

Frisk’s grip released slightly, “I don’t _want_ help from you. I just want to _go home.”_

“If you would just sit down, I will be able to run some tests—”

“An experiment, then?” Frisk spat, turning around to finally face him, eyes streaming, “Is that all I am to you? An experiment?”

Gaster narrowed his eyes at her, taken aback by her unexpected outburst.

“You keep dragging me back here, to do _tests,”_ she cried, stepping away from him again for good measure, “And I know you find this all very _fascinating.”_

“You are not—” he tried.

“The timelines, right? You think…you think I’m…you’re still trying to figure that out, right? That’s over now, but if you’re still trying to look into it, I don’t want any part in it.”

“Human—”

“Shut up!”

“Frisk—”

“I said _shut up!”_

He shut up.

She stopped to catch her breath, dipping her head and tears spilling onto the floor.

Gaster watched her hesitantly, unsure whether or not to reply.

“I just want to go home,” she croaked. Gingerly, she watched his shadow, knowing whether he’d try to come too close to use magic again, or knock her out, or—

“the hell happened in here?”

Both of them glanced up to Sans slouched in the doorway, his face solemn.

Trying again with a sterner tone now that Sans was here, Gaster uttered, “Frisk, _sit down.”_

Frisk scowled, but was clearly thinking the same thing as she loosened up, shambling around to find Sans.

Reassured that he was there if anything went wrong, she set her jaw, shuffling onto the table.

There was a quiet yet audible sigh of relief from the other man who had finally got what he wanted.

“guess i ain’t finding out,” Sans murmured from the doorway.

“There was a mild disagreement,” Gaster intercepted, not taking his eye off the child.

Sans considered making a comment laced with sarcasm, before hearing Frisk quietly whimpering.

He sighed, lifting himself off the doorframe and sauntering over to them.

“hang on a sec, g,” he muttered, pushing past him to get to the kid, “ok, come here kiddo,”

Frisk didn’t hesitate and immediately embraced him, crying like the child she really should be.

Gaster awkwardly watched from behind, before ultimately strolling away.

Both friends waited until Frisk’s crying had devolved into snivelling. Sans pulled away and looked her in the eye. His voice was gruff as he spoke calmly.

“need you to do something for me, k?”

Frisk nodded.

“gaster’s a bit of an ass, but he don’t mean you no harm. he’s just protective of me. yeah?”

Understandably, Frisk hesitated at this; deep down she knew he was telling the truth, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling of an imminent threat with him around.

She bit her lip, redirecting her eyes to follow Gaster. He simply wandered around her, readjusting all the monitoring apparatus. There was no danger, really. But her mind…her mind wanted to say otherwise.

“yeah?” Sans prompted an answer.

Frisk lazily met his eye and nodded.

“Sorry…” she murmured, for the events of before. Sans grinned.

“tis nothing. he needed to be yelled at. was good fun to watch.”

She smiled. “Can we stop now?”

Sans closed his eyes, “sorry, but no. not yet. we need to find out where you got your red magic from.”

Her eyebrows knitted together, “Red magic?”

“yep, that’s what you got. mine’s blue, yours is red. obviously.”

Frisk thought back to when she gave Asriel half of her soul, “maybe it’s because of Asriel.”

“yeah, that’s what we’re thinking.”

Gaster piped up from behind, “Asriel’s mother, Toriel has fire magic, or red magic,” he stepped in front of them, “I hypothesize that this was passed down to Asriel, and your sharing a soul has somehow given you the gift also,” he paused, allowing Frisk to catch up as her eyes widened. “Although I am not sure as to why, in humans this is unheard of.”

After that, Gaster leaned in to take her blood pressure, but she scooted away.

Sans sighed. “kid.”

She practically shrivelled up, “Don’t touch me.”

“what did I tell you about him not hurting you?”

“I said no,” she paled as bile rose to her throat. She swallowed her stomach down and scrunched her fingers into fists.

“do you want me to do it?”

“No.”

Gaster clenched his jaw, “Sans, this is ridiculous.”

An eye roll, “just hold on a sec, g,”

“We have waited long enough!”

Frisk flinched.

“she's just a _child_ , damn you!”

“This would have been over a long time ago if I hadn't conceded to your pathetic cries of pity.”

“and damaged her irreparably. there's more to this than just your damn experiments!”

“I am trying to protect you and every other civilian here. Have you forgotten she destroyed the royal hall within moments?”

Frisk hiccupped and leaned over the side of the table.

“If left unchecked she could destroy the underground _and_ the surface.”

At that, Frisk's stomach recoiled and she sharply inhaled, before throwing up over the side of the table.

There was a long pause.

“now look what you’ve done.”

“This was not my doing.”

Frisk whined at them pitifully as her stomach heaved again, closing her eyes and hyperventilating.

Sans stopped arguing with the older man and quickly trod over to help.

“ok. ok it’s alright,” he murmured, silently seething over his earlier exchange.

Why was Gaster being so...horrid? Difficult? Unsympathetic?

Frisk stared up at Sans with sad puppy-dog eyes. “Sick,” she croaked, her eyes glossy with tears.

“yeah, i know. just hang in there kiddo,” he mumbled, rubbing a hand over her back. The distraction was a welcome one.

She considered him for a moment, “Can I go if I let you do whatever?”

Sans stopped patting her back, glancing up to Gaster as a means to find permission. He however was giving Sans the deepest darkest glare he could muster.

Sans didn’t care.

“sure.”

Frisk huffed in relief, “thank you!” she cried, while Gaster stared daggers into Sans from a distance.

“no problem kiddo.”

Something about the way Gaster’s eyes burned with disgruntlement unnerved him.

Sans grinned in jest, “what? it worked didn’t it?”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (game over music plays lmao)

_She considered him for a moment, “Can I go if I let you do whatever?”_

_“sure.”_

_Frisk huffed in relief, “thank you!” she cried, while Gaster stared daggers into Sans from a distance._

_“no problem kiddo.” Something about the way Gaster’s eyes burned with disgruntlement unnerved him._

_Sans grinned in jest, “what? it worked didn’t it?”_

**…**

Frisk’s mouth set into a hard line as she conceded to the deal she made with the devil.

Also commonly known as Sans.

As per their agreement, Gaster was standing _not_ within arm’s reach, across the other side of the room while Sans did all the work. For once. His brother would be so proud.

She gnashed her teeth together and hissed as yet another needle withdrew from her arm.

“good thing i know a thing or two about this, huh,” Sans quipped, chuckling at Frisk’s blanched pale face.

“But that hurts,” Frisk muttered, her arm rock hard from tensing.

“well, look on the bright side,” Sans offered, placing the sample on the table and quickly pressing a gauze to her elbow, “at least gaster over here isn’t doing it. you’d be bone…tired…of...” he paused, unable to think of how that joke was going to end. “huh.”

Frisk grinned, “You’re way out of practice!”

Sans’ eyes narrowed, “guess i need to bone-up on my puns.”

“You can start by stopping the bone puns,” her eyes gleamed playfully. The young skeleton shook his head, a smirk plastered on his face. He swiftly passed the final sample on to Gaster, who went on to test it wordlessly.

Perhaps this was a much easier way of getting Frisk to go through with the testing after all.

“Can I go now?”

“uhh…”

“You promised!” she whined in a singsong way that made it clear she said it in jest.

“yeah, yeah, whatever,” Sans clutched a wrist bracelet from the drawer and passed it to Frisk, “but only if you wear this.”

Frisk inspected the bracelet, concluding it was a real-time tracker for her vitals.

“That wasn’t part of the deal!”

“deal or no deal?” he smirked, offering it out to her again.

The child growled under her breath, snatching it up from him and shoving it on her wrist.

“Now can I go?”

“yep. will let you know what we—” but Frisk had already launched up to walk out the room, “…find.”

Gaster drew closer now that the human wasn’t around, “She will get lost again.”

Sans snorted, “yeah, let her. it’s funny.”

…

It wasn't funny to Frisk however, who had somehow found themselves in the same area of the lab as the day before. When she had tried to escape.

Total darkness.

“This way, human,” a disjointed voice called out from behind her. She froze instinctively, before relaxing at the realization she was allowed to go now.

Despite the dark, Frisk recognised the voice and hummed in agreement, following the creature through the shadows of the murky room.

The tall monster led her out of the darkness wordlessly, eventually approaching a door. He opened it for her; Frisk forced a smile.

“Thanks,” she murmured, not making eye contact but continuing to walk out. She heard the door slam behind her, jumping at the startling noise.

Hopefully now she could have some time alone. No needles, threats or disturbances.

She began her long trek back home.

...

Toriel stuck a fork into Papyrus’ plate of pancakes. But these weren’t any old pancakes.

“So! How are you enjoying! My! Butterscotch cinnamon toffee pancakes laced with the finest grown ground coffee beans from the garden of yours truly!?”

The motherly creature made a face, “Papyrus, I haven't even had a mouthful yet.”

He frowned, “Well...! Hurry up! I can't wait to ask you again!”

Tentatively and a bit fearful for her life, Toriel forked down a serving and waited for the after taste to set in.

The grounded coffee left a bitter taste in her mouth, he _definitely_ added too much of it. But it wasn’t...bad?

“It is lovely Papyrus, thank you.”

The tall brother beamed enthusiastically, “I knew my culinary skills were improving! Should I save some for Sans?”

Toriel chuckled wholeheartedly, “If you like, dear.”

With that, Papyrus brandished a knife and began to cut a slice for his brother, hoping he would enjoy it as much as Toriel did.

As he inserted it into the fridge, the sound of quiet footsteps could be heard plodding down the stairs.

Toriel glanced up from the table and spotted Asriel tentatively hanging on the staircase.

“Ma? When is Frisk coming home?” he enquired, wrapping his arms around the banister.

“I hope soon, dear, she has just gone with Sans and Doctor Gaster to find out where she got her magic from.”

Asriel craned his head, “But when she comes home... will she try to hurt us again?”

Toriel forced a pained smile, “Frisk did not mean any harm, please do not think otherwise.”

“But...” he was conflicted, “The hall...she blew it all up!”

“Yes, but that was not her fault. Frisk did not mean to hurt anyone,” Toriel sighed, “and that is why she is with the scientists now.”

“Your mother is right, Asriel!” Papyrus chimed in, continuing to recut the cake slices as he wanted nothing but the best for his brother. Which included pancakes, apparently.

Asriel looked unconvinced; there was no way the attack wasn't malicious. Not after she watched a peaceful royal feast end in a room of flames and screaming right in front of him.

“Okay...” he resigned anyway.

Toriel smiled, standing up from her armchair and taking his hand, “Come along, my child. Let's get you back to bed.”

The young monster frowned, briefly stealing a glance towards Papyrus before following her.

As she walked Asriel back up the stairs, another door creaked open from behind them.

Both monsters turned around to see Frisk scrambling into the house, quickly slamming the door behind her. Small hands trembled wildly, her brown hair a dishevelled mess.

“Oh dear,” Toriel muttered, torn between walking Asriel to his room or greeting Frisk.

Papyrus took up the role, “Welcome back, human!” He announced, wrapping a long arm around her shoulders, “You were gone an awfully long time!”

The wristband monitor beeped, and Frisk glanced at it in irritation. Clearly it had been making noises the whole way home.

“What’s that?” Asriel curiously asked, stepping closer to her.

Frisk tentatively held her arm out to him, “It's...for my vitals.”

Asriel leaned over it, touching it hesitantly, “You mean to stop you using your magic?”

“No...” her eyes narrowed, pulling her arm away again, “It sends my life signs to Sans and Gaster.”

“Oh,” Asriel’s shoulders slumped, “Do you have control now?”

Frisk sighed, “I'm trying, Azzy...”

“Will you blow up our house?”

“Asriel, come here!” Toriel demanded sternly, then turned to Frisk with an apologetic expression, “Sorry about him, dear.”

She shrugged, expecting no less from the inquisitive creature, “It's fine.”

Toriel was half-way up the stairs before she paused, “Frisk, will you come upstairs with us? I will tuck you both in at the same time.”

With the monitor digging into her skin, Frisk itched at her wrist, deciding it was better if the day ended as soon as possible, “Yeah, I’m right behind you,”

There was a small hum of acknowledgement before the footsteps continued traversing up the stairs.

With a quiet exhale, Frisk followed suit.

…

Thirty minutes later, the children were finally in bed; in their own home. At last. It had been so long since everyone had been together…it was the first time since Asriel came back that Frisk was home too. Papyrus had gone home with Sans so Frisk could have some normality for the night.

Smiling, Toriel opened her human created snail-keeping book and began to read through the next chapter: How to Keep your Snail Alive for more than 3 days (the results will shock you!)

“Ah…humans are so strange,” she thought to herself, sliding a finger to the next page and curling it over.

_Do not allow animals to eat your snails. That’s a sure way of killing off your snail pets!_

“Now why on earth would anyone want to—”

Her thoughts were cut off by a howling scream coming from upstairs.

The sound tore through her soul like ice, her blood running cold. This was soon followed by the rapid thumping of footsteps running around a room.

Launching upright, she immediately padded over to the stairs, heart pounding and fearing the worst, “Asriel? Frisk? Are you two alright?” she tried to ignore the crack in her voice.

“ _MOM!”_ she heard a voice shriek from Asriel’s room, but she was already half-way up the stairs.

She hobbled up as fast as she physically could, launching through the door and into their room. As the door opened, a whoosh of smoke wafted her senses.

Squinting through the smog, Asriel was sprawled out on the floor, and opposite him was Frisk’s eyes twinkling blood red. A wall of smoking scarlet fire surrounded them both. The blaze was trickling over to the wooden bed, in danger of setting it ablaze.

“Mom, she’s tryin’ to kill me!” he cried shuffling back as far as he could go without touching the flame looming behind him.

Toriel froze in sheer panic for a second, moments passing before decidedly pushing aside all the _why’s_ and collected herself. A lone flame appeared in her hand, and she turned to Frisk, although not intending to do anything with it.

“Frisk! Stop this unruly behaviour at once! What on earth do you think you’re doing?” she shouted, eyes darting wildly between her and Asriel, fearing for his life. Fearing that he’ll get ripped away again just as suddenly as he was brought back.

But the human child didn’t answer, still staring down Asriel with a look that haunted her.

And it was just then that she noticed the _look_ that was actually on her face.

Pure unbridled terror, such _horror_ that she had never seen bestowed onto the child’s face before. Her pupils had blown wide, twitching hands were throwing fire particles everywhere.

Then she put two and two together. Frisk wasn’t threatening him, in fact she probably wasn’t even awake at all.

Unsure of whether any sudden movements would provoke her more, Toriel decided to release the fire magic in her hands and dug into her pockets for her phone. Pulling it out, she immediately dialled the number for the skeletons. The reply was instant, as if they were aware that something was going on.

“tori? that you?” the almost out of breath voice of Sans asked from the other end of the phone, “the hell’s going on?”

“I do not know, my friend! There is fire everywhere, Frisk is out of control, I cannot contain it!”

“damn. yeah, we noticed. her vitals are through the roof. we’re…i’m almost there.”

It was just then that she realised Frisk was still wearing her wristband, and silently she thanked the stars that the little monster had ever considered the idea in the first place.

“Mom!” Asriel cried again from the floor, but Toriel was at a loss on how to save him. In this state, Frisk was more powerful than both of them; and Asriel hadn’t even gotten his powers yet.

“Just…just stay within the circle, dear, okay?” she tried to muster up some courage to her voice, as to try calm down her son, “Help will arrive soon, you must _stay_ focused and _stay_ in the circle.”

The circle of fire continued to spark, making Asriel whimper.

“is that Asriel?”

Oh, Sans was still on the line.

“Yes, it is,” she mumbled, hands shaking.

“oh jeez.”

“Yes…”

At that moment, Toriel heard the telling _slam_ of a door from downstairs, and the rapid rumbling of footsteps. She held her breath in anticipation and relief.

By the time Sans barged into the room, his eye was already lit a cerulean blue with a darkness on his face that Toriel was sure she had never seen before.

“kid, stop this.”

Only the crackling of fire was heard over the silent response.

“ ** _now.”_**

Still nothing.

His entire demeanour dropped, “huh, usually that triggers something.”

He instead turned his attention to Asriel, lifting him in the air carefully and placing him a safe place away from the ring of fire that now only contained Frisk inside it. With ease, he too lifted her out, placing her beside himself, well away from Asriel.

But she didn’t react.

Sans stared at the blaze that stood before them, lifting a hand that caused the flame particles to envelop into each other and grow dangerously close to the roof. They watched enamoured, as the flame fell back to the ground just as quickly, before sizzling out entirely.

He sighed.

Toriel stared blankly at the state of the room, the residue of smoke still clouding her vision. Her attention was quickly drawn to the sound of Asriel doing an interesting mix between hyperventilation, crying and coughing.

She knelt down beside him, “I am so sorry you had to see that, my child,” she murmured, pulling him into her arms at long last. “I am not sure what happened, but know it was not your fault.”

“I-I-I did-did-didn’t d-do anyth-i-i-ing!” he choked between gasps, shaking in his mother’s embrace. “I was sl-sle-sleeping!”

“I understand. Frisk is unwell, and you were right, it was not a good idea for me to agree to bring her home so soon,” she murmured, hoping the other child couldn’t overhear. Luckily or not, she was still unmoving from the opposite end of the room. “It was selfish of me. I wanted my family home.”

“It’s not your f-f-fault,” Asriel’s voice grew quieter as he began to calm down.

Sans remained silent, watching Frisk with an unnerving feeling in his fictitious stomach. She hadn’t even moved since the moment he walked in the room, barring the jittery hands.

With a quiet sigh, he stepped towards her, a gnawing worry that she would freak and set fire to the room again.

“hey, kid,” he murmured, cautiously taking another step forward, “what’s the matter?”

Nothing.

He shrugged, “welp, worth a try.”

Not even a smile. He could feel Toriel’s eyes bore into him from behind. But looking at the kid’s face…her expression was blank, barring her eyes. Her eyes pupils were huge, petrified still.

“hey,” he tried again, noticing the kid didn’t react and stepping right in front of her, “kid—”

He nearly jumped as her eyes shot up to meet his for the first time, somehow even more scared than before. She raised her hands in defence, but he quickly lowered them again.

“hey now, none of that, yeah? it’s gonna get expensive.”

To his surprise, the kid’s face grew slack and she collapsed, managing to grab her under the arms just before she hit the ground. “ah, damn it. tori?”

The older mother padded over, carefully taking Frisk from Sans and laying her gently on the floor.

She was unconscious now, and no-one in the room was any wiser as to what had happened with her. Toriel lay the back of her hand on Frisk’s forehead and paused for a moment. No fever.

“so uh…how much were the tables?”

Toriel inhaled to supress a chuckle, shaking her head at him. “That doesn’t matter right now, my friend.”

“I-is she gonna be alright?”

Toriel and Sans turned towards the source of Asriel’s voice.

“well, it don’t look goo—”

“Yes, my child. Frisk will heal and become her old self again. _Won’t_ _she,_ Sans _?”_ the end of the sentence was spat with such vigour Sans was impressed.

“uh…yeah.”

Asriel’s smiled cheerfully, before his entire expression dropped into that of panic, looking at something past them.

Both Toriel and Sans felt worry in their gut, knowing the only thing Asriel could possibly be looking at was Frisk.

They turned back around, and was met with Frisk’s wide eyes again, except this time her entire expression mirrored Asriel’s and was now that of terror.

She scrambled onto her feet, trying to get away but falling over, as if her knees were jelly. She tried again, attempting to stand and simultaneously run away, causing her to fall over again. She panted and cried at the effort, terrified of the invisible enemy in the room.

“What’s…?” Toriel started, unsure of how to explain it herself.

Gnashing his teeth together, Sans firmly grabbed Frisk by the shoulders and tried to get her to see reason.

“kid, look. look at me. look at me.”

But the kid didn’t want to look at him.

“look at me, i’m here. hey,” he put herself in front of her, but her eyes saw straight through him.

He frowned.

“Frisk, please tell us what’s the matter?” Toriel pleaded, kneeling beside them both. Frisk tried to stand again, collapsing and trying to crawl away. Her breathing escalated into panicking gasps, sounding more like she was choking.

“I don’t know what to do,” Toriel admitted, backing towards Asriel again, almost as if she were paranoid about her lashing out again.

Sans ignored her, firmly grabbing the child again and turning her to face him, “frisk, kid, look at me, please, you need to breathe,” he muttered, trying to hide his confusion and concern. Knowing that in the past it had helped, Sans lit his eye up blue again and tried to comfort her that way, but it was to no avail. “it’s gonna be ok, but you need to breathe, you’re scaring the hell out of everyone.”

Sans took hold of Frisk’s shoulders and spoke directly at her, but she saw straight through him and continued choking. “kid, you need to breathe,”

More sobbing.

“i don’t think she’s with us,” he murmured, taking her head in his hands and noticing her eyes were glazed over.

“What? What do you mean?”

“i mean i don’t think she can even hear us. or if she’s even awake,”

“What’s wrong with her, mom?” Asriel asked, worry straining his voice.

“i don’t know what the hell this is but she’s going back to the lab,” Sans declared, taking her arm and noticing the sweat beads across her skin. He ran a pulse check on her wrist, which was of course going abnormally fast. “i’m gonna call alphys.”

“Frisk is quite ill, so now she’s going to see a doctor,” Toriel offered, knowing _quite ill_ was a huge understatement.

Sans’ eyes glazed over to the ground in thought, before noticing the wrist he was holding was starting to twitch.

“No…no…no…no…please…stop…”

Sans narrowed his eyes at the words that had finally left Frisk’s mouth.

Soon enough the fear in her eyes returned, and frantically she tried to get out of his reach again. “ok, tori can you call alphys, i need her here to help me get Frisk over there.”

Toriel brought out her phone immediately, expecting the request a mile away, “Of course.”

“what are you seeing, huh? the hell has driven you to such…weirdness,”

“Don’t hurt them, please…” the kid only whimpered in response, clearly not seeing him.

“heh.” _The irony._

...

Ten minutes later and the little yellow reptile found her way into the room, pausing to take in the mess. The remnants of black smoke was all Alphys needed to figure out the cause of the destruction. Frisk was fading in and out of consciousness, much like Chara was when she was very sick. This had Toriel terrified.

“alph,” Sans snapped her out her thoughts and she quickly stepped over.

“Wh...what happened here?” she glanced at the dust around the room and assumed the worst, “Did someone...”

“Everyone is alive, but Frisk is gravely ill,” Toriel informed, her voice hushed with Asriel asleep on her lap.

“Oh...I-I see,” Alphys knelt in front of her with a medkit, “I-I haven’t really dealt with human medical stuff before, I've only heard about it...but that’s because we didn’t see any...also I did do a lot of research so I'm not entirely clueless! A-and--"

“alph, if i didn’t trust you i wouldn't have called you.”

“...R-right, yes, sorry,” there was a nervous chuckle as she opened the case. She hovered her hand over something before pausing, “What did she do?”

“exactly what it looks like.”

The tenseness in Sans’ voice had Alphys on edge. She took a small circular object from the box and pressed it to Frisk's wrist. She flinched, but almost immediately sagged back down with a groan. Her features relaxed.

“sedative?”

“Um...yes?”

“good idea.”

“Oh! Thanks,” she smiled nervously, taking her readings again.

There was no fever, and her heart had slowed back down, but her mind was going insane.

“If this is magic related then Gaster might have a better idea,” she offered, packing her items away, “Let's get her t-to the lab!”

...

“Please,” Frisk whined weakly, being carried across gravel path, “P-plea-ase" she sharply inhaled, “H-hel-p m-me,”

Alphys drew her mouth into a straight line, “We're nearly there...”

“I ca-can't...can't...”

“calm down kiddo, it’s ok,”

“He-he's got me...”

Sans froze.

“what?”

“My-my hea-ad...”

“what? who's got you?”

The only response from Frisk was her becoming deadweight, signifying to him she had passed out again.

...

Finally, they arrived at the lab. Gaster was surprised to see everyone singed. Except Alphys, of course. But he drew the pieces together rather quickly what with Frisk having red magic, deciding there must have been a fight of some kind.

“I-It’s as if she’s having a bad nightmare that she can’t come out of…we’ve tried everything,” Alphys was saying, feeling surprisingly confident in her remarks. She was determined to help the child.

Frisk was placed heavily back onto the table she swore she would escape from, still partly unconscious. While everyone crowded around to do some tests, Gaster grabbed her wrist and read the wristband.

His brows drew together instantly. “I do not like the look of those readings,” he asserted, his eyes narrowing even further as he came across one specific read out.

Sans noticed his curiosity and peered over to look himself, “what is it?”

_It cannot be._

“Strangely familiar.”

_Impossible._

“you’re being cryptic again, g,”

Gaster blinked out of his haze and glanced down at the younger enquiring skeleton.

“I have a theory, but I am hoping I am wrong,” he speculated, taking a step closer and drawing together some magic. His right eye glowed a deep bronze, idly aware of Sans own eyes widening in what was likely to be protest. It was true, he never usually called upon this side of his magic. Not for a long, long time.

“what are you doing?”

He ignored him, reaching a skeleton hand to Frisk’s face. A rising concern blossomed in his chest as her eyes flew open and faded into the same colour. 

The last thing he heard was the demanding protests of his skeleton associate before he made the connection. And the world went dark.

…

The world was pitch black, no sky or ground to create a world out of. There was a harsh howling of wind brushing through her hair, but nothing else that signified where Frisk stood was real.

But almost as if it were there the entire time, a figure loomed in front of her. It was cloaked and shaking, melting, fading out of existence. Was _this_ even existence?

She had to find answers though, so there wasn’t any other option than to communicate with the mysterious figure.

“Uh…hey? Sorry, I don’t know if I’m supposed to be here…I was…uh…” she thought for a second, trying to remember where she was before she woke up here, “…I was sleeping…?”

For a moment Frisk was beginning to wonder if the figure was even alive at all, as the only thing she was met with was silence. But the long stretches of stillness passed, until finally there was a response.

“You are correct. You should not be here.” A deep voice echoed throughout the room—the world—wherever it was. It sounded infinite, but like nothingness at the same time. “And neither should I.”

Frisk pursed her lips, anxious all of a sudden, “So uh…what do you mean? Where am I and why am I here?” then she paused, “Actually, who _are_ you? I’m Frisk.”

A low chuckle that was so quiet it was almost inaudible. “I know who you are, human.”

That wasn’t unnerving at all.

“Okay…again, who are _you,_ disembodied creepy voice?”

There was a deep sigh, before two skeletal hands came out of the cloak and pulled the hood down. At least she guessed it was a hood as there was a skeleton under it. In fact…it looked familiar. Too familiar. Maybe there was a reason for her terror of Gaster in the real world, assuming this place wasn’t even a world at all. Because this guy looked exactly like him, except with an appearance a lot more cracked and melted.

Maybe it even _was_ him.

She swallowed hard, dreading the worst, “…Gaster?”

The creature smiled hollowly, “So, you _do_ know me. That’s good. That’s good.”

Her eyes widened, “But what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been here for a millennia. An eternity. Or forever, there is no time here.”

Frisk tried to look past his cryptic manner of speaking, despite her latter question not being answered “And what is _here?”_

“The void.”

“Ah, yes…” she narrowed her eyes, “ _what?”_

“You are in the void. I brought you here.”

She clenched her jaw, “Yeah I can see that, but why?”

“You have the ability to bring us out of the void,” but his mouth turned into a creepy grin, “Or rather, just me, but using your soul.”

Frisk blinked rapidly, trying to process the information. “I…am I still dreaming? Is this something creepy nightmare or some sick joke? Did Sans get this off you, except a lot less cruel?”

“I cannot make the journey alone,” the _creature_ continued, “I have tried so very hard over the eternal years, eventually I just gave up. But I needed a human soul—”

“Well you ain’t getting mine, take me back!”

Frisk instantly regretted those words as she was lifted into the air and suddenly nose-to-nose right in front of the creature faster than her mind could even process it. She sharply inhaled and tried to wriggle out of the magic’s grip.

“I need a human soul,” it repeated, and seemed to be eying her, “You broke the barrier.”

She smiled as innocently as she possibly could, “I sure did.”

“That was what was missing.”

“Bucko you are not making any sense right now.”

“Stolen words from your skeletal friend? I’ll be sure to tell him you said hello.”

“Listen here,” Frisk spat, calling upon her magic as her eyes grew red, “Not only am I human but I have magic now. You might be able to make things _float_ but I overpower you.”

The grin from the creature extended to nonsensical proportions.

“Is that so?”

She swallowed, internally berating herself for being so challenging towards a huge threat that had somehow brought her from reality into the void within seconds.

A maniacal expression plastered onto his face, and all of a sudden Frisk felt her throat tightening.

“Try saying that again.”

Frisk struggled, eyes bulging as she tried to gasp for air.

“I apologise, it seems I cannot hear you.”

She flailed, trying to smack him away as the fight or flight instincts kicked in.

“You are like a worm to me. Stop struggling. Give me your soul and end this.”

Despite everything, she managed to find it in herself to shake her head, still uncovering strength left in her to fight in spite of suffering.

There was a sigh from the other creature, the lights in his eyes dilating, “I do not wish to resort to other methods, they are so…impractical. Predictable. Pitiful, even,” his grin grew back, “But that’s a small price to pay to return to the mortal realm.”

“Like…what…?” Frisk spat, still straining under the choking hold.

“I could pick off your friends, one by one. But I won’t kill them. That’s pathetic. I will bring them here to the void. They can suffer for an eternity like I have.”

Frisk made a wheezing noise at the back of her throat, “Even…your own…sons?”

There was something, _something_ in his eyes in response to that, but it was quickly washed away by the maniacal expression reasserting itself, “If I must.”

_Don’t hurt them…please…_

“You…sick…freak…” now the feeling of terror every time she saw his face in real world made sense. He had been watching her from the void all this time. But why was there two of them?

Any attempt at logical reasoning was abruptly lost to the void however as her brain began to raise flags at the lack of any oxygen. Black lines danced around the edges of her vision, crawling inwards and expanding, raiding her eyes until her own eyes rolled back.

“I am disappointed. That was too easy.”

Seconds later, the familiar burning sensation spread from her chest to her arms, and she knew what was coming this time. An explosion of heat erupted from her, releasing the choke hold and sending them both flying in opposite directions.

She gasped for breath, silently thanking whatever deity had given her red magic as it might have just been her saviour. Not giving herself a chance to relax, she threw a hand up and set a wall of red flames in Gaster’s general direction.

He simply craned his neck to the side in curiosity and lifted a finger, fizzling the fire out with ease.

“Fine…” Frisk hissed, getting up from her knees to her feet, “My best clearly isn’t good enough. I’ll just try harder,” she lifted another hand, and an enormous ball of fire soared towards Gaster’s general direction. He teleported out of the way, causing an empty ring of fire to appear with nothing inside it.

“ _That’s_ your best?”

Frisk huffed, “You just suffocated me, I’m not up to my best right now.”

“Try harder, then,” he lifted a finger in the air, then pointed at Frisk. All of a sudden a dozen hands materialized out of thin air and hurled towards her. She yelped and jumped out the way, but the projectiles continued following her.

Aware of a smirk upon Gaster’s face, Frisk quickly turned and raised both hands, setting fire to all the projectiles, which all subsequently fell to the ground in a blaze.

“And that’s _your_ best?” Frisk snarled, the next ball of fire already forming in her hands. There was an expression of slight annoyance on Gaster’s face, before he raised a finger to the sky, Frisk being immediately thrust into the air.

But there was no ceiling, no _sky_ , or anything to stop her, so she kept going upwards. She flailed, trying to somehow will herself to go back down, but she kept going higher, and higher…

Until without warning she was plummeting again, but it wasn’t a force by gravity, no. She was being forcefully pulled to the ground by magic.

Frisk squeezed her eyes shut, before a thunderous _bang_ collided with her ribs and pain erupted throughout her body, pain tore into every part of her nervous system. She didn’t dare move, in fact she decided she was never going to move again. Blackness swirled at the edge of her vision, and she knew her time was up. There was no word from Gaster, but distantly she heard footsteps coming closer, until her consciousness faded entirely.

…

Gaster sharply inhaled, pulling back from the child’s face, the orange glow dissipating subsequently. He wasn’t aware of how wide his eyes were but began to catch on when Sans and Alphys were staring at him worriedly.

He realised, and collected himself, stepping back from the child and straightening his clothes out.

“what’d you see?” Sans asked with such hesitance in his voice that it was clear Gaster’s prior reaction was all he needed for an answer.

“…Exactly what I hoped I would not see.”

“and what would that be?”

He ground his jaw, “I believe I just encountered my original counterpart from this timeline.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all beginning to come together now.

_Gaster sharply inhaled, pulling back from the child’s face, the orange glow dissipating subsequently._

_“what’d you see?” Sans asked with such hesitance in his voice that it was clear Gaster’s prior reaction was all he needed for an answer._

_“…Exactly what I hoped I would not see.”_

_“and what would that be?”_

_He ground his jaw, “I believe I just encountered my original counterpart from this timeline.”_

**…**

As if gasping back to life, Frisk’s eyes flew open and immediately surveyed the room for danger. Two of her friends, Alphys and Sans stood before her, the group focusing very intensely on another figure. Her eyes locked onto Gaster, the grave expression upon his face, and immediately her instincts kicked in.

“Don't you come near me, you sadistic psycho!” screamed Frisk, eyes ablaze with the urge to protect everyone, but most instinctively herself.

“I understand how unnerving that felt, but I am from another timeline. A different Gaster.”

“Yeah? Well, you still had it in you!” she seethed, not backing down. Despite being from a different timeline, he still had it in him to do and threaten what he did.

That made him dangerous.

Sans and Alphys exchanged glances, allowing the two to argue with each other. Such was expected.

“I will not deny that. However, I did bring you out of the world my counterpart put you in.”

Frisk swallowed to soothe her now-sore throat, wincing at the pang of pain.

“I wish you would just go right now,” she admitted hoarsely, voice softening to almost inaudible levels.

Gaster looked somewhat conflicted, “I can leave the room temporarily if you so wish,” he offered, knowing it wasn’t what Frisk meant.

The young child snivelled, still reeling as she began to succumb to tiredness. “It doesn't matter.”

It _did_ matter; she didn’t have the energy to deal with it anymore. Her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a trusted friend. Her ‘pal’.

“well, im going off a huge hunch here but i have a deep-rooted feeling our Gaster was the man behind the timeline merge.”

“It does seem like something I would do in that situation.”

“so in your timeline you're alive?”

“Yes, although I can assume _now_ that it is presumed the opposite.”

Sans sighed, “yeah, you're not there anymore.”

“Evidently.”

Alphys glanced vaguely at the monitors for the millionth time that minute—trying to convince herself that yes, Frisk is no longer in a state of falling down. For now…

She gazed up at the man that was three times taller than her, “But…what would happen to us in the timeline this Gaster is from? W-what would we think? He just…d-died? Of what?”

Gaster shifted his attention down to her, interested in the question.

“Natural causes.” Frisk muttered to herself, drawing the attention of the other monsters with her suddenly dark tone.

Gaster’s jaw tightened at her ominous phrasing, “I am immortal and do not age. That will not work,” he pointed out.

Everyone else stopped talking to consider a reasonable response. In this timeline Gaster supposedly fell into his own creation and disappeared forever. But now, evidently, he was still out there. In the void. Trying to return.

“Ma-maybe they will just consider the same thing we did, that he fell into the core? But really he was here? Or…” Alphys paused, overwhelmed with thoughts, “Maybe that’s what happened to our Gaster? He got pulled into another timeline?”

“no, ours is in the void. their Gaster is here,” Sans jumped in, focusing an eye on Frisk. Her heartrate had shot up again and no-one else in the room seemingly noticed.

_keeping something from us, again._

“This is all v-very confusing,” Alphys began, then remembered to impulsively check Frisk’s vitals. Her eyes grew wide, not hesitating to make eye contact with Sans, who raised an eyebrow in response. Clearly he had already seen and wasn’t reacting, but judging by his inaction, apparently thought she was still safe. Maybe she should trust the guy.

They both glanced over to Frisk, who was staring at her feet while anxiously fiddling with her clothes.

“something on your mind?” Sans queried.

She froze, locking eyes with him and shaking her head.

“hmm…” he pondered, “if you say so.”

They continued to watch each other for a moment, before Gaster cleared his throat.

“There is another matter to address; where has Frisk received their magic from?” he questioned, recalling the events from hours before, “and what of the test results? Alphys?”

Alphys whirled around at her name being spoken, “O-oh! Yes, you were right! It’s because of soul sharing with Asriel,” she stammered, trotting over to her desk to find the papers, “I-I’m pretty sure Frisk has taken Asriel’s powers. It was hereditary from Toriel, but instead of Asriel’s body gaining the magic, Frisk got it instead!”

Frisk gazed up, suddenly interested. Asriel will grow up without magic?

“A-also, it looks as if Frisk’s magic is slightly different from Toriel’s, even though it’s technically hereditary,” Alphys added, “I think its because she's human.”

“but asriel relies on magic to survive,” Sans protested, also walking over to Alphys’ desk, “how’s that working?”

“U-uhh…” Alphys swallowed, not liking all eyes being on her, “I think Frisk having magic is keeping him alive. I-I mean, they share a soul, so…”

“You think?” Gaster challenged, taking the notes from her to see from himself; it all checked out. “Ah. Interesting.” Sans peered under his arm to see for himself too.

“Y-yeah,” she smiled, politely taking the notes back and briefly looking at them before storing them away again. “He should be fine…”

Sans blew out a long breath.

_but will frisk be?_

**...**

Inside the Dreemurr’s home, Toriel had just got the text message from Sans bringing her up to date on their findings. The poor human was likely to be jumpy and scared considering her encounter with the other Gaster…and she wasn’t sure how she was going to break the news to Asriel that Frisk had his powers.

But that thought could wait, he was asleep on the sofa right now, unable to use his own room thanks to Frisk…it was currently in ruins.

Out of the blue, her phone vibrated and rang in its typical shrill fashion. In a panic not to wake Asriel up, she snagged it from the armrest and pressed the answer button as quickly as possible.

“ _What?”_ she whispered harshly, but stopped herself, “I mean…sorry, hello? Who is this?”

A muffled voice came through the other side, “heya.”

“Oh!” she grinned, leaning on the armrest, “Sans, what can I do for you?”

“so, the kid’s left, and i’m pretty sure she’s heading your way,”

She frowned, “You let her go already?”

“didn’t really have a choice.”

“…Oh.”

In that case, Frisk had probably lost control of her magic again. “…I see.”

“yea, but it’s fine. we got the answers we need. for now, anyway.”

“I thought it had just been revealed that she was pulled into the void by a Gaster from another timeline?”

“our timeline. the one we have here is from another one.”

“…Right. It is hard to keep track of all this, my friend. It has all come on so suddenly.”

“yeah. and yeah we did discover that, but Alphys thinks the kid needs time to herself to recover from it,” there was a brief pause, some distant voices in the background presumably talking to him, “…instead of being cooped up in the lab having questions fired at by pretty much the same guy that nearly killed her.”

“Alright. But I am concerned, what if she gets upset and sets something ablaze again?”

There was a quiet sigh from the skeleton on the phone.

“tori her magic comes from you. if there’s anyone to help control it you should be the one to do it.”

Toriel definitely didn’t feel that she was a creature suitable to be teaching Frisk the ins-and-outs of magic, but if the others were unwilling…who else would?

“I understand. I will start tomorrow, however. I want to put Frisk immediately to sleep when she gets home.”

“yea, that’s fine. thanks tori.”

Toriel promptly switched off the phone and leaned back in her seat. Her eyes gazed onto Asriel, wondering how he would feel about Frisk being home again after the incident earlier.

But she would deal with _that_ issue when the time came.

She stood up to prepare a meal as a _welcome home yet again_ present for Frisk, stopping to quickly peck the sleeping Asriel’s forehead.

“Goodnight, my child,” she whispered, to which the young creature hummed absently.

Opening the fridge, she pulled out the first ingredient of the pie she gave Frisk when she first came to the underground – butterscotch cinnamon pie. Perhaps some reminiscing of happier times will do her good.

Switching the oven on, there was a hasty knock at the door.

“Oh my, she’s very early.”

The pie would have to wait. She tottered over to see her visitor.

The door creaked open, and below her was the small child, Frisk. But Toriel was surprised to see that she was not wearing her usual purple jumper. To add to things, she was also shivering, her face as pale as the snow her boots treaded upon.

“Hello, dear. You look very cold,” Toriel acknowledged, ushering her in. Where was her infamous jumper? Frisk was very fond of it; they had 6 duplicates of the same one. Now she just stood before her with a white vest. No wonder she was trembling.

“I lost it,” Frisk vaguely whispered as Toriel closed the door behind her.

“You lost it? How did you do that?”

Frisk’s expression became downcast, “I…I…don’t get angry with me,” she began, waiting for Toriel’s expression to change to that of moderate concern.

She shouldn’t have been surprised that the motherly creature only smiled in return. “Of course I won’t be angry. It’s alright.”

Frisk pursed his lips, but spilt the beans, “…I got angry and accidentally set it on fire on my way here.”

Toriel’s eyes went wide, “You _what?”_ she shouted, suddenly grabbing the child’s arms and checking for burn marks, “How on earth did you—”

“You promised you wouldn’t get angry!” Frisk wailed, taking a step back. There was a moments silence between them before Toriel sighed.

_I am being overprotective again._

“I apologise…I am just worried you may have injured yourself,” she confessed, leading Frisk over to her armchair, next to where Asriel was sleeping, “Wait here while I get you another one. And please be quiet, Asriel is asleep.”

Frisk smiled weakly, “Sure,” and dropped down onto the seat. She folded her arms around herself, struggling to keep warm in a vest with the cold weather. That wouldn’t be a problem soon, considering the fireplace was crackling.

A small smile crept onto her tense face seeing Asriel so at peace. Some part of her deep down was worried what he would think when he woke up and saw her. Would he be afraid of her? Would he want her to leave?

The smile slipped from her face at the thought of it.

She was soon brought out of those thoughts when Toriel walked back in, carrying a new jumper.

“Here you are, my child,” she pushed the jumper over Frisk’s head, being sure to keep quiet as to not wake her son. “I was in the midst of making a pie, but unfortunately you arrived before I finished it.”

Frisk wriggled her head through the top and arms in the sleeves, “It’s ok, wait until Azzy is awake.”

“I _am_ awake!”

Both heads turned to the little monster lying droopy eyed but awake on the couch. Frisk stood up and held her breath.

“Oh dear,” Toriel muttered, kneeling down to his eye-level, “I am sorry I woke you. Frisk is home and she’s very cold.”

Asriel grinned, eying Frisk’s shivering form despite the jumper, “She looks it,” he agreed, standing up to give her a hug. “Howdy!”

Frisk pitched forward and grew wide-eyed at the response, wrapping her arms around him also, “You don’t hate me?”

“Of course I don’t,” he smiled with open arms, “You messed up my room, but it was an accident!”

Frisk’s shoulders slumped at the memory, plucking at her fuzzy sleeves; she didn’t deserve his forgiveness after that.

“While you two talk, I’m going to continue making the pie,” Toriel insisted, giving both children a pat on the head before heading off to the kitchen.

They awkwardly watched each other for a while.

Frisk chewed on her lower lip, unsure of how to feel. “Um…I don’t know what to say,” Eventually she sat back down on the sofa, head in her hands.

Asriel straightened up and hummed happily, “Mom will sort it out. When you get better everything will be ok again!” he sat beside her.

Frisk’s expression changed a smile and turned to face him, “Thank you.”

Asriel’s eyes sparkled.

**…**

“What I’m concerned about is what our Gaster did to Frisk in…in the void, or wherever it was...he wanted to come back and suddenly Frisk has magic? Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you guys?” Alphys wrung her hands together in distress, “I-I mean, I know she’s had magic for a while but maybe he’s the one that made her have magic and not Asriel?”

Gaster tilted his head, “Being able to manipulate these two timelines together from the void could also mean he was the deciding variable for who received Asriel’s magic.”

“I would believe that more than the i-idea she just coincidentally got magic when he needs a human soul to get out of the void…maybe he needs human magic too?” Alphys forced herself to inhale. She was working herself up again.

“human magic was not a thing until the incident with frisk.” Sans reasoned.

Alphys frowned, a terrible thought planted in her mind, “Um…what if Frisk tries to reset? Or go from a point from before she had magic and tries to change it?”

“I don’t think that would be a problem,” Gaster said with a surprisingly darker tone to his voice.

Sans glared at him, the subject already a difficult one for him, “oh? how so?”

…

“Now just lift your arm gently...gently... _gently!”_ Toriel shot a hand around Frisk's wrist to steady her magic, “There...keep it like that...and...”

Frisk carefully flicked her wrist, a ball of fire easily shot towards into the fireplace logs, causing it to spark into life. A delicate flame danced inside the frame: finally a successful lesson.

“See? It’s all about focus and control. When you get upset you lose focus and the flames go everywhere,” then she chuckled, “Or at least that was the case for my fire magic. I was a child once too, you know.”

Toriel as a child…is something no-one has thought about and probably never would again.

Frisk hummed in acknowledgement, dazzled over the beauty of her own magic that had caused mass destruction to her mother’s home only hours before.

If only someone more worthy had it instead...

“Mom?” she asked quietly, gazing up at her.

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you...do you think it would have been better if Azzy had magic instead of me?” a feeling of unease lay in the pit of Frisk's stomach.

Toriel had seen this coming, and exhaled softly at the self-deprecating question, “My child, it does not matter to me who received magic. You both are my children and you are both worthy of it.”

But Frisk knew this wasn’t true.

It was no use admitting that to Toriel though, as she would simply become protective and worry about their child having such thoughts.

“Mom?” a different soft but strained voice sounded from behind them both. Asriel stood them, knees wobbling, “I don't feel well...”

It was speech that horrified Toriel, as this was the same sentence uttered when he fell down upon return from the human village.

“Oh dear…” with smooth movement she quickly forgot about the training and ushered him over to the sofa, “What is the matter?”

Asriel exhaled heavily, stumbling over to the seat and practically falling onto the cushions. He hugged them tightly and muffled something into the pillow.

“What?” Toriel sat beside him, unaware of Frisk's staring.

“Jus' real dizzy,” he garbled, still heaving in breaths. It was at this moment Toriel noticed the almost look of recognition in Frisk's eyes.

“Frisk?” she queried, a mix of anxiety and desperate anger.

“I... I saw this,” Frisk breathed, staring wide-eyed at Asriel's form.

_I saw this in the void._

“I need to...call someone,” she murmured, pulling a phone out of her pocket and immediately dialling the lab.

“Please hurry,” Toriel urged, pulling Asriel onto her lap, her act of kindness unexpectedly causing him to squeal. He rolled around on the spot aimlessly, shaky hands clutching his chest while Toriel tried to control her inner panic. She placed a hand onto his, trying to soothe him.

“ _I don’t understand_ ,” he whimpered, opening a single eye to look at Frisk, “You s…said that you wouldn’t…hurt anyone…anymore…”

Frisk’s face fell flat, waiting for ringing sound on her phone to end, “I’m not. I’m not hurting anyone.”

“Then…why am I…hurting?”

Frisk had spent a limited but insightful time in the void, and if more of these ‘visions’ came to fruition then she knew what would happen next.

But she only knew _what_ would happen, not how to stop it.

And whoever was on the receiving end of this call was taking way too damn long to pick up.

_Come on!_

“You’re such a liar!” Asriel wailed, causing a gasp from his bewildered mother, “You promised!”

The inharmonious ringing from her phone stopped, clattering noises coming from the other end before a voice came through.

“heya”

“Sans, it’s me, put Gaster on.”

“what?” his tone sounded mildly bored.

“Just put him on, there’s…just… _now!”_ she urged, “Please!”

There was a noticeable pause from the other side, likely curiosity. Seconds later, she heard distantly: “hey G, it’s the kid, she needs you,”

Frisk clenched her fist and forced herself to exhale, she needed to do something _right now,_ needed to talk to him _right now._ Asriel was still trembling in Toriel’s lap creating pathetic whimpers that were getting quieter and quieter. And that was _not_ a good thing.

_Stop messing around and answer me!_

“Hello?”

She blew out another breath, “Hi, it’s me. Uh…basically your doppelganger showed me Asriel’s demise and it’s happening right now.”

Once again another long pause, and for a second she wondered if Gaster assumed this was the child’s attempt at a strange joke. She had been afraid of him for the majority of the time they knew each other, after all. Regardless, there were more important, urgent matters to attend to right now. Fear could wait.

Finally, he responded, “Where are you now?”

“In mom’s house. Toriel’s house. I think it’s his soul. He’s clutching his chest,” her words came out in rapid short sentences as she tried to keep the words going in her tense, almost nervous state.

“Take out his soul.”

Frisk nearly coughed up her own saliva in shock, “…What?”

“Apologies. I mean view his soul from his body and tell me what you see.”

“I…don’t know how to do that? Can you just come here and do it? Quickly? Please?” she sharply inhaled, cursing at herself inwardly at her demeanour breaking, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Use your magic. Did your mother not teach you?”

“We’ve only just started! Just come here!” she raised her voice, clutching the phone in her hand, “He’s gonna die because you keep asking questions!”

Toriel held Asriel a little tighter and gazed up at her, “Frisk…”

_Clearly I’m starting to scare them._

“Sorry,” she muttered, swiftly striding in front of him and raising a hand, “I’m gonna try really quick.”

“Good,” the deeper voice from the phone resonated, “If he trusts you then subconsciously his soul will come to you when you ask for it.”

“How do I ask for it?” her outstretched hand made her aware of the ache at the back of her neck, strained from stress.

“It is different for everyone. Try it in the way that feels right to you.”

_Try it in... seriously?_

“This is ridiculous!” Frisk cried out. With one hand still on the phone, she threw her outstretched one down and ran straight for Asriel, “Just tell me what’s wrong, Azzy, _please.”_

Asriel blinked up wearily at her, his whimpers had been reduced to nothing, his hands weakly sprawled out against his chest now. But to Frisk’s surprise, half of a small, red soul popped out in front of the younger monster’s body, revealing itself in all it’s glorious but vulnerable state. It looked rather distressed, a small darkened hue creeping across the fractured edges.

“Is that what you want?” he queried softly. A motherly hand clasped around his wrist tighter, disapproving of his attempt to speak in this condition.

“Yeah…” Frisk murmured, remembering she was still on the phone to Gaster, “I uh…have it now.”

“Good,” the reply was quick, “What does it look like?”

Frisk hummed, “Sort of…tainted. Like, it’s red, as it should be, but there’s some darkening in there.”

“Hmm…” a brief silence, “What about yours?”

_Huh, well I can do that at least._

With ease, Frisk summoned her soul, pure red and existing as it should be. Aside from the cracks that made evident the missing half that resided in Asriel.

“It’s fine, nothing wrong there, I think,” she answered, sending it back to where it belonged.

Asriel’s breaths had eventually evened out to one that of normality, his eyes tired but no longer creased in pain. He remained slouched on his mother’s lap, clearly too afraid to move.

“He seems to be okay now,” she added, locking eyes with Toriel. Her face too had calmed, at the quieting appearance of Asriel.

“That is good,” came the reply over the phone, “That is good.”

Frisk then noticed that Gaster hadn’t even tried to make the trip there.

“No, it was _lucky._ Something could’ve seriously gone wrong because you didn’t bother to show up.”

Did Frisk’s ears deceive her, or did she hear a quiet chuckle?

“ _No._ I had an intuition for what this might be, and it seems I was right,” he corrected, and Frisk suddenly realised Gaster probably knew more than he was letting on. “You had better get him here before it happens again.”

Frisk blanched, “Again?”

Her arm was starting to ache from holding the phone for so long.

“Yes.”

_Way to be vague._

“Right…okay, I guess,” she promptly ended the call before Gaster could offer any other enigmatic, cryptic response and turned to the two monsters on the sofa. “So…here’s what he said…”

**…**

Gaster had been occupied shut in his lab for over an hour, ever since Sans had passed the mobile onto him after Frisk’s sudden frantic call.

And he seemed to be talking to her rather in an abnormally calm, comforting tone, a strange sight but a welcome one. Perhaps it was a voice reserved for children.

But Sans hadn’t seen him since.

Still, at least he’d made some progress on the reports. There was a correlation between Frisk first discovering her magic and being pulled into the void. But the question was why? Quite clearly, he wanted to use her magic, her human soul, to get back into the mortal realm.

And with what Frisk said about Asriel’s impending demise, this was likely another one of og-Gaster’s doing.

Speaking of the devil, the door flew open, Gaster himself sauntering out with his head held low. Sans stopped the report and approached him for answers about the phone call, “heya, what happened back there? is the little guy alright?”

Gaster made a _tsk_ noise and sat down in silence, apparently reinstating his silent demeanour.

Though unfortunately for him, this wasn’t something he could just sulk off in silence to.

“you gonna speak or should i not bother ‘til later?”

Sans was gonna get an answer out of him either way, but still.   
The elder creature turned slowly, unwillingly towards him, an almost vacant expression on his face.

“It is difficult to witness yourself doing things you normally wouldn’t expect yourself to be able to do,” he finally responded, posture rigid from either tension or apprehension. Possibly both. He didn’t usually open up often. “Negative matters.”

Sans tried to play it cool, “yeah, i mean, must be pretty weird seeing yourself doing those things. alternate you has a thing for killing kids apparently,” there was an air of lightness to his tone, but the other man didn’t take it as casually.

“It is not…humorous.”

He lifted an arm, “you mean…humerus?”

Gaster shot him a glare, “I said don’t.”

He sighed, “yeah, right. uh…” he paused, running hands onto his face in thought, “so, did you save him?”

“If you are talking about Asriel, he didn’t need saving.”

“i’m pretty sure I heard the kid say—"

“ _Assuming_ this alternate me has the same experience and thought process, the failure of obtaining the human child has resulted in…” he paused, tilting his head, “I suppose what you would call a plan B. That is attempting to force the magic out of Asriel by putting him in danger.”

Sans blinked, “you’re saying they both could have it?”

That would make the job load for Toriel a lot more hectic. Two untrained fire-wielding children under one roof?

“Unsure at this precise moment.”

“so is he alive or not?”

“Yes. He recovered on his own.”

_Well isn’t that just convenient._

Sans narrowed his eyes, expressing as much, “that can’t be a coincidence. good old void-you.”

He had a feeling Gaster definitely knew more than he let on, and probably had an idea as to what might happen next. All he had to do was think in terms of being without a soul.

There was a positive to this; alternate Gaster was one step ahead of everyone else, but this Gaster was one step above that. Two steps ahead. A whole tall, stretched stride. A jump. An entire leap—

“The ‘void me’, or at least that’s what you’ve decided to name him, will likely try again. When Asriel’s soul begins to turn black again, the connection would be established, and we have another temporarily link to the void. I will go there.”

Sans blinked, “you’re gonna…”

_ok, i was wrong. this gaster is a lot dumber._

“g, you can’t just _go to the void._ you’ll get stuck there like he did.”

But he didn’t seem to share his concern, “Asriel will remain my link back as long as the temporary link isn’t closed. Otherwise the connection with myself and this reality will be lost, and I will be stuck there too.”

“geez, two gaster’s in one void. i almost want to leave you there to see what happens.”

“If you do so, I will devote every remaining waking moment of my ‘life’ to hunting you down.”

At that response, Sans glanced up at him, almost unsure if his friend had even caught his joke; he was a very a literal person. But there was a small glint of hidden spirit in his eye, and Sans knew Gaster’s reply was all in jest.

“alright, fine then,” Sans sighed, standing up from the chair despite not being _entirely_ sure where to start heading off to, “to the void we go.”


	18. Chapter 18 - Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter! We deal with the encounter with void-Gaster, and aftermath of everything that has happened, but Gaster wakes up to a new world and it isn't as he remembers it.

**A/N: This is the final chapter for this story. I completely lost motivation for this and everything else due to personal things but I didn't wanna be the person that leaves a story abandoned, I wanted to end it at least somehow. Thank you to everyone that has been reading so far (and thanks to the people that have binge-read the entire thing, props to you). 18 chapters was almost 3x longer than I wanted it to be but _here we are_. I'll still be making other stories in the future for Undertale, just this one is drawing to a close. Thanks to Yours the Author for betaing!**

* * *

_“_ _If you do so, I will devote every remaining waking moment of my ‘life’ to hunting you down.”  
At that response, Sans glanced up at him, almost unsure if his friend had even caught his joke; he was a very a literal person. But there was a small glint of hidden spirit in his eye, and Sans knew Gaster’s reply was all in jest.  
“alright, fine then,” Sans sighed, standing up from the chair despite not being entirely sure where to start heading off to, “to the void we go.”_

* * *

_oh boy, am i dreaming?_

“I am here. Where are you? I know you are here too,” the Gaster that Sans had come to know announced his arrival, inconspicuously standing several metres in front of him in a shielding-like stance. Alphys and Frisk trailed behind Sans, on guard and tense from emptiness of the void around them.

_no, actually, i’m having a nightmare._

A dark fuzzy figure fizzled into so-called ‘existence’. It was obvious who was under the cloak, fractures spread throughout the skull. No description could fit the creature; it had no form or sense of being. Yet it was obvious to Sans who it was. Sans idly grabbed his blue jacket for comfort, which felt oddly like a whole lot of nothing.

The group stared onwards, panicked at the dark form that approached them, their restlessness emanating in the empty void. It was _their_ Gaster from this timeline. He, who had been trying _so_ hard to return to the mortal realm in his own respective timeline. And now they all stood willingly in front of him.

“I spend an eternity attempting to return to my time, and now you are all here standing before me. If I had known, I would have tampered with Frisk’s mind much sooner,” frenzied eyes drilled into the child in question, but hers in contrast were brimming with determination.

Sans’ stomach dropped in the same way it did whenever he came across Frisk for the first time in each genocidal run. Somehow, in each specific reset, he always knew with each return if she came with the intent to kill everyone. Alternatively, he also knew when she had returned to be a pacifist. He had the former feeling with Gaster now.

“B-but, I don’t understand…I…Gaster…” Alphys looked to be content cowering behind the other Gaster, who had been remarkably quiet since arriving. “We worked so w-well together, in the lab. And with Sans, too…why are you like this now?”

“because he doesn’t have a soul.”

All heads turned to Sans, surprised at his sudden exclamation.

He shrugged half-heartedly, “what? i’m being literal. he doesn’t have a soul here. this one does,” he prodded the other Gaster in the back, and in exchange received a slight scowl.

The void-Gaster didn’t respond, and simply pulled down the hood of his cloak, aware of the others watching him intensely. There was a spark in Sans’ soul waiting to kick into life at the very smallest of signs that this monster was going to pose a threat to any of his friends here. He silently thanked the stars that Papyrus wasn’t here.

“What is it that you want? Why are you here?” the creature asked instead, turning his head in unnatural angles. Frisk was cringing at the sight.

“I know what you are doing to the child, Asriel. His soul is infected, and you are waiting to claim it as your own so you can return,” the other Gaster acknowledged, inching away from Alphys who was pressing closer and closer into his side.

“You all think you are so smart.” The void-Gaster countered, taking a step closer to them in what could only be assumed was an intimidation move.

The Gaster with a soul chuckled darkly but didn’t retaliate, “We are the same person.”

“B-but, this is wrong,” Alphys spoke up from behind them, visibly trying to pull herself together and failing with shuddering breaths, “Asriel has j-just came back to us. You would do an irreparable amount of damage to the king and queen, not to mention taking an innocent soul to save yourself and hurting m-many others,” she sharply drew in a breath to collect herself.

_yeah, go on, Alph._

Void-Gaster snorted, “A bold claim for you of all people to say, Alphys.”

Alphys paled, if that was even biologically possible, and withdrew from the ‘conversation’. She backed away behind Sans. Frisk, who seemed to be the least afraid of the mortal bunch, tried to innocently smile to help cheer her up. Of course, considering what she had seen in Alphys’ true lab, it would be hard to find anything worse to scare her.

“I could just take your soul,” void-Gaster addressed to the other Gaster, sizing him up despite being the same person.

“Then the cycle would continue, and I would end up like you.”

“A worthy sacrifice, is it not?”

“Clearly, we do not share the same thoughts."

“Evidently.”

_this conversation is the most pointless waste of time i’ve ever witnessed._

_barring the resets._

Sans cut in, “well, isn’t this just the most riveting of hangouts.”

Both Gasters turned to him with identical scowls set upon their faces. The sight was almost amusing.

“what? if I were stood here having a conversation with myself you'd be bored senseless too.”

He was feeling rather confident despite facing certain death.

Two of them.

To his surprise, void-Gaster disappeared in front of his eyes and reappeared behind himself and Frisk.

Sans tried to call upon his magic instinctively to protect himself, but the blue light simply fizzled out.

His eyes focused on void-Gaster, whom had an amused expression upon his twisted face.

_oh boy._

“That will not work. You have no power in the void. It is mine to do with as I please.”

Sans narrowed his empty eye sockets, “so you own the void.”

“Yes.”

“nice. sounds like you should stay here then.”

“You and I both know that will not happen.”

_oh well, worth a try._

The other Gaster held a dark, silent expression that even Sans couldn't decipher.

What does he know that everyone else didn’t?

He tried to come up with theories.

He needed a soul to make it back to the real world. That’s how Chara returned after all.

_...wait a sec…_

“hey, G,” he stopped staring into space (or the void), suddenly brimming with ideas. Both Gaster’s turned to look at him.

_oh, yeah. two of em._

“not, you, the weird one. droopy face.”

‘Droopy Face’ lifted an arm presumably to send Sans zooming ninety degrees upwards into oblivion, so the smaller skeleton spoke quickly to avoid such a fate.

“what did you do to Chara?”

Aforementioned armed dropped.

_that hit a nerve._

“What do you know of the child?”

“i know that you had something to do with her possessing my pal here,” he swiftly grappled Frisk into a protective embrace, causing a squeak.

“She needed a soul. I gave her one.”

“yeah, no. you weren’t being kind, were you?” he watched void-Gaster face contort into mild panic, which quickly twisted into a smirk. Clearly he was on the right track.

“What makes you say that?”

“you used her as a guinea pig, didn’t ya? you had the ability to pull Frisk to the void, so I assume you would be able to pull Chara back into the void once she had a soul. so then i’d guess that you’d kill her and take it.”

“Clever.” The smirk contorted wildly, the grin almost stretching to the cracks at the top of his head. “Very clever.”

Frisk visibly twinged at that, recognition dawning on her face. Weird.

“It is true, I can only bring humans into the void, and since finding myself here no human has fell down, until Frisk.”

“so you tried to get Chara to take Frisk’s soul.”

“Indeed. She was…exorcised before I could bring her to me.”

Sans sighed, running an exasperated hand across his face. All of _this_ just so Gaster could come back to the living realm? Merging timelines, Chara almost returning, Frisk’s powers and nearly dying, _him_ nearly dying, just so that he could come back?

“But now, here you all are, standing before me. Four souls to choose from. If anything else, it seems I got your attention.”

“frisk has _magic,”_ Sans emphasized, pulling the kid a little closer, “that was you too, right? that was….” he breathed, thoughts dawning upon him, “Chara didn’t work, so you used frisk to bring us to you.”

Void-Gaster eyed Frisk intently, as if analysing her for the truth. Then, he grinned. “This was not of my creation.”

Sans blinked.

“what?”

“I did not give her magic.”

“you…” _how?_ “how did she get it then?”

He nearly jumped at the sound of someone clearing the throat behind him. Sans quickly turned, almost forgetting Alphys was here. “Erm…like I’ve said before, sharing a soul with Asriel caused her to get it by chance. I…I think it’s plausible that G-Gaster didn’t have anything to do with it.”

_huh._

“right.” it seemed odd not to blame Gaster for something as obscure and unusual as this, especially given his knowledge in the field. Human magic was unheard of, and Frisk was the first one to get it.

“ok, well, guess I believe you, for some reason,”

Well, he had all the answers now, everything had been lain out in front of him. But there was still a problem.

He turned to his friends, “well this is good to know and all, but the hell are we gonna do about him?”

“Um…” Alphys wrung her hands together, “We could…leave him here…?” her face was so contorted with worry that it was obvious she didn’t even agree with herself.

“No, that cannot happen,” other-Gaster denied, finally speaking up after standing in contemplative silence for so long. Who knows what he had been thinking. “That is not how this ends.” The white glow of a monster soul unexpectedly materialised, floating freely in his hands.

The lights in Sans’ eyes went out.

_what?_

Sans was both furious and scared, “the hell do you mean, _how this ends?”_ the sinister grin on void-Gaster’s face was inexplicably fading.

“When I looked into Frisk’s head, I saw what she saw. This does not end here. We cannot leave him here; it is too dangerous.”

The grip on Frisk dropped, Sans stared at her in disappointment more than anything, “you knew this, and you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t wanna worry you,” she whispered, her brown eyes huge, “I know how you get.”

The Void-Gaster remained silent, clearly understanding what was happening.

“you,” Sans jabbed an accusing finger in his direction, “don’t you have anything to say about this?”

The distorted grin had melted back into an almost-normal expression. “This…outcome, was not of my doing. I was not anticipating this.”

“We have to,” a soft voice from Frisk stated, “I’ve seen what will happen if we leave him here. He eventually has enough control over the void to bring humans from the surface here. And now that the barrier is broken…he will take thousands. And…I’ve seen…things…” she swallowed, gaze dropping to the floor, “From Asriel…I’ve seen things…and that was just monster souls of the underground…and Gaster…if he could take human souls of even one city…”

Sans, in one great breath, spun around and grabbed the hinges of other-Gaster’s cloak furiously, “you can’t damn well bloody kill yourself for this freak!” he whispered harshly, “this…this bastard is not a replacement for you! you are _not_ dying to save him!”

“Sans.” The deep voice demanded, though with a slight hint of sadness, “Do you really still not understand?”

Arms flew around the air in anger; it was lucky he didn’t have a soul in hand, “no I don’t bloody well understand! did Chara put you up to this? i thought you were different than him, g, I thought…”

“Sans—”

“you were just like the gaster that I knew—you’re like this Gaster, _my_ Gaster before the void screwed him up. you were like him. and when I was just getting used to having you back, just starting to trust you again…you do this. you sacrifice the yourself for this _maniac_!”

“ _Sans_!” Gaster repeated firmly, causing the younger skeleton to stop shouting. “I _am_ him!”

Silence deafened the void.

“…what?”

Sans subtly tried to glance up to the void-Gaster, but again he only stood there, his expression grave. Clearly he had caught onto the situation.

“This was always going to happen.”

Sans nearly, choked. “what. _what_ are you talking about?”

“I am not from another timeline. That is what we all had assumed, including me. But the abnormal readings from me was not from a different timeline, but from a different _time._ Hence the readings. _”_

His eyes were still blank, “i still don’t understand.”

Gaster sighed but explained in a hushed tone. “The ‘maniac’, as you so call it, Gaster, that stands before you right now is me. In the past. I gave him my soul and he becomes me.”

The lights in Sans’ returned, although small. If he had any internal organs, they would probably have imploded by now.

“but how come you didn’t remember? surely you’d remember being him? this conversation right now? aren’t your memories intact?”

Gaster shook his head, “Gaster merged the timelines with the attempt to free himself but by doing so he has created a paradox, and that paradox is me. It always has been. Once we leave the void, I will cease to exist, and all memories of the void will be wiped from this Gaster before you. He becomes me. And the paradox closes.”

This would explain why Sans had such a heavy reaction to the timeline merge in the first place. Not only his sensitivity to the timelines, but the paradox, which was Gaster. And he was Gaster’s creation. His…son.

Sans glanced past him, eying the deranged, crazy killer that stood 5 feet away. “but he’s a psychopath. he’s not you. you’re not…” he took a breath, “you’re not him.”

Gaster offered a genuine smile, “I can assume you, I am. We are the same being, the same person. From the same timeline. He is from the present; I am from the future. I suppose I am proof that he…” he paused, “ _I,_ can still be saved.”

Hesitantly, Sans turned towards Frisk, who was gazing up at him with a sincere expression upon her face. She was determined to save someone. And so he knew what Gaster was saying was true.

“you had better be right about this,” he muttered, releasing his grip and taking a step back. “if you’re messing with me or this goes wrong, i’m gonna…” he paused and emptied his sockets to prove a point, “i’ll make sure you’ll have no choice but to reset.”

Frisk grew wide-eyed, creating distance between them but shaking her head, “I’m not messing with you, I promise.”

The lights returned. “hmm.”

After a beat of silence, Gaster cautiously stepped across from Sans and approached the void-Gaster.

“I believe this is yours,” he announced, a white, slightly cracked soul floated above his hands.

Surprise spread across the void-Gaster’s fractured face. Decades in the void must have made such a turn of events surprising to him. Being offered a way out, despite everything he did to get himself out. Something he _didn’t_ anticipate.

But to everyone else, they were just glad he had stopped making such creepy expressions.

Gaster took the soul and observed it curiously. It glowed brightly, as if the entity itself was alive and craved to be reunited with its owner.

“Curious little thing,” he muttered, allowing it to engulf him in a beam of light. In a haze, the cracks slowly mended as the evidence of his time in the void sealed together, although still were visible as little chipped pieces on the top of his head.

When the light eventually dissipated, he glanced up; the other Gaster was suddenly gone.

The concern faded almost as quickly, and he was left with an empty feeling, as if he had forgotten something.

Looking down upon himself, Gaster found himself noticing his newly repaired physical form…and a large gap in his memory.

“Hmm.”

He had a few seconds to take in the shocked faces of the three friends huddled together, before all energy zapped from his body. His vision faded to black.

**...**

The next time Gaster awoke, it felt like hours had passed.

No, _days._

Such a loss of time sense was unusual and quite frankly disturbing, although he had no intention to show that.

Opening his eyes, he struggled to remember the events of before.

_Where am I?_

_What day is this? What month?_

A hand clasped onto the window ledge, and he pulled himself upright, desperate, no, _impatient,_ to look out the window.

He expected to see a blanket of snow and the familiar sparkle of Christmas lights, however…he saw only green.

_Green._

Green, and tall, _tall_ buildings…

… _What…?_

“What in the world…”

As he spoke, he heard the telling sudden shuffle from behind him, whizzing around to see who else was in the room with him. He had been so desperate… _impatient_ to find where he was that he didn’t think to see what house he was in.

Muscle memory was obviously at play here considering he successfully made for the window; it looked like the skelebros house except the surroundings were somewhere entirely different.

_Focus._

Forcing himself to concentrate, he noticed Sans.

_Sans._

Why did that name cause such…an empty feeling. A sinking feeling in his gut?

_If he had one._

There must be a reason for it, because the young skeleton was staring right through him, sitting idly in the corner as if he were asleep with his eyes open.

“Sans,” he finally spoke the name, still not sure of the negative association that came with it, “Where are we?”

Sans snorted, shutting his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath.

_Really? It’s this much of a long story? Why not give a straight answer?_

“you really don’t remember, huh.”

Gaster narrowed his eyes, “If I remembered, I would not ask.”

“well,” Sans paused, his eyes darting around to random points of the room, obviously anxious for some reason, “well…pal, bucko, my good ol’ buddy chum, friend… _dad_.”

“Answer the question.”

“on the surface.”

Gaster wasn’t sure of the feeling he was _feeling_ but it wasn’t entirely negative. Still, all he could manage was a simple: “What?”

Sans leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes at that bombshell of information, “eeyep.”

Gaster would have completely torn down that statement and pinned it as a lie, but quite frankly the evidence was there. There was only green outside. The buildings were similar to those from the surface, if not the same. Perhaps this was a sick joke, which was extremely unlikely given the memory loss. It probably had something to do with that, instead.

“How did…” he paused and cleared his throat, trying to pass off the feeling of his throat closing up as a minor inconvenience with a sudden cough. “Apologies. I appear to have a lapse in my memory. I will have to look into this.”

“i know.”

So, Sans _did_ know about this. Still, it was very unlikely this was all a joke. As much as a comedian Sans tries to be, he definitely would not pull off something like this, especially to his own family.

“Was there an accident?” he tried to reason with himself more than anything, “Something that would cause temporary amnesia, perhaps?”

He was growing impatient. Less with Sans, more with the situation itself. And the cracks were starting to seep through.

Cracks…

Why did that phrase trigger something within him?

“i guess you could say that,” Sans replied, looking about as defeated and tired as Gaster felt, “it’s really a long story, and tibia honest i don’t entirely understand it yet myself.”

“I suppose it was something major,” he eyed the young skeleton, ignoring his pathetic attempt at a joke. Alas, he considered how exhausted he appeared, even more so that usual. “You do not seem yourself.”

“heh,” Sans shrugged, shutting his eyes once more. He was _very_ tired, for some inexplicable reason.

“Is it something I should be concerned about? Are any of us in danger?” he suddenly perked up, pushing down the impending worry, “Where is Papyrus?” his youngest wouldn’t be able to defend himself properly, it was usually up to him or Sans to protect him from others. And if he needed it now, in Gaster’s current state, then…

“nah, pap’s fine,” he shrugged it off, appearing as if he was going to fall asleep any moment, “i’m pretty sure we’re through the worst of it. at least i hope.”

“I see.”

The two of them sat in mutual silence for a few minutes longer, the anxiety sitting in Gaster’s fictitious stomach not knowing where to go. On one hand Sans claims there is no real danger, in fact apparently they were out the other side of it. However, Gaster cannot remember what happened, where he was, how he got here…

“i’ll tell you in due time,” Sans spoke again, bringing Gaster out of his thoughts, “though i guess you should rest or something.”

_Rest?_

_For what, exactly?_

“Why are you withholding this information from me?” he asked instead, wanting a straight answer. It didn’t make sense. None of this situation made sense.

Sans on the other hand seemed defeated, shrugging it off again and apparently dozing off. “dunno.”

“Hmm.” Perhaps he will get better answers when Sans wasn’t so tired.

Or…perhaps someone _else_ could give that information to him.

“Where is your brother?”

Sans froze, then turned to him with a narrowed expression. Clearly he was already onto him. “dunno,” he said again. Not very helpful today.

“I take your ambiguity as a distraction from his near whereabouts,” he stood up and straightened out his crumpled cloak, “Goodbye, Sans.”

Sans snorted, “yeah, cya.”

**…**

Eventually, Gaster found Papyrus in a park. Most strangely and perhaps horrifyingly of all, he was handing out food to humans. Free food. To _humans._ The older ones seemed sceptical, but the children, around the same age as Asriel or younger, found the entire thing extremely entertaining and probably thought Papyrus was a human in costume.

But if anything would convince Gaster that they were on the surface, this was definitely it.

He cautiously walked over, being careful not to make eye contact with any of the humans.

_Though if this is the new normal, I will have to get used to being around them again soon._

“Papyrus,” he called, striding over to his food stall, _free food!_ written in crude crayon against a white banner.

The tall skeleton paused and searched around for the voice, until finally falling upon Gaster.

“Oh, hello!” Papyrus smiled, handing him a plate. “Would you like some? It’s not just for humans you know!”

“Hmm,” he stopped and chuckled. _Never change._ “I will be fine. I have some questions for you. I’d like to jog your memory about something.”

“Really?” he stopped serving out plates and turned his attention towards him, “Go right ahead! My memory is excellent.”

“What do you remember of the past few days?”

It was probably an odd question to sought someone out for and ask, but he had to get answers from _somewhere._

Papyrus frowned, perhaps a little more so than was normal with the harsh sunlight of the surface blazing down on them.

“Well, I don’t remember _exactly,_ they were normal days after all.”

“Normal?”

“Yes,” Papyrus turned his head, in thought, “It’s been a normal week for me. How about you?” he smiled innocently.

Gaster sighed, “That is not what I need to know. When did we get on the surface?”

Something in Papyrus’ face changed, as if he twigged that Gaster was really asking something else of him.

“Last month…” Papyrus said slowly, taking a step back, “What’s the matter?”

Did Papyrus not know? Did he have a lapse in memory too?

“Do you feel like you have forgotten something?”

At that, Papyrus laughed a little, “No? Are you okay?”

Gaster frowned but started to back away from the conversation, “I am fine, never mind. Forget I asked of this,” he made his way forwards the exit for the park gates.

“Erm…” Papyrus loosely followed him from behind, “Maybe a little bit? It’s very normal, it’s nothing to worry about though!” he continued to follow him, at a near sprint now that Gaster was trying to stride further and faster. “It’s like when you walk into a room and forget about what you’re doing!”

“Stop following me, Papyrus,” he muttered, wanting some time alone to think this through, not listening to bumbling nonsensical gibberish from behind.

“But maybe I can help!”

_Clearly you cannot._

_This is different to simply forgetting what you are doing. This is major._

“Please! Stop running away! I can feel it too!”

Gritting his teeth, he turned around and uncharacteristically yelled, “I am not _running!”_

“hey, don’t yell at my bro.”

_Sans._

With a silent bur heavy sigh, he watched Sans magically, literally, appear from behind.

_Those damn ‘shortcuts’._

Sans gestured for Papyrus to back off. Perhaps he had a change of mind about telling him what’s really going on here. Either that or he’s about to unleash a ridiculous lecture about yelling at his brother.

“you died.”

Gaster huffed. “This is no time for a joke, Sans.”

“that wasn’t a joke,” those empty eye sockets are back, “i’ve already asked pap and he doesn’t remember either. and I don’t want you freaking out the rest of the village so yeah. you died and that’s why you feel like you forgot something.”

He blinked, at a loss for words for a moment. “Surely, I would remember dying?”

“there was a paradox, you were the main cause of it. everyone’s memories were wiped except mine, and probably Frisk. i won’t tell you how, or you’ll cause another one. just don’t tell anyone, especially not pap.”

“Surely you cannot expect me to believe this?”

“dunno what else to tell you,” Sans shrugged, and began walking the other way, “that’s the truth of it. like i said earlier, cya,” and strolled off.

Gaster watched him take a few more steps away, before calling after him, “Sans,” he began to follow him in the same way Papyrus had done minutes earlier. Sans turned around sluggishly. “Who is Frisk?”

Apparently, that question was deserving of a snort.

“of course you forgot her too,” he chuckled to himself with a hint of malice, shaking his head, “oh well. you’ll find out soon enough.”

_Interesting. Very interesting._

He took off back home. Or, as home as he could possibly get on the surface. The entire ordeal was odd, one minute he’s living in the familiar, calm atmosphere of Snowdin, then the next time he wakes he’s on the surface. It’s as if the house had nonchalantly teleported along with the rest of the underground and no-one thought to tell him about it.

And this memory loss? His apparent death?

The truth behind it was unknown to him, and Sans looked at him no longer as a father, but with spite. But Papyrus…Papyrus continued to treat him as family as if nothing happened. What could he had possibly done to bring Sans to look at him the way he does now?

He decided he would learn about the truth in due time, one way or another he would get the information out of Sans, perhaps win his trust back. His friendship back. Whatever it was that he had done…clearly had an impact on the whole of reality as he knew it. And Sans was the only one that remembered any of it.

What a burden to have.

He has changed so much.

What else had happened while he was supposedly gone? What was the story behind Frisk? Had she something to do with it?

Either way, it seemed he had missed a lot. It was like waking up to a new world, literally. But there were so many new factors to consider, so many gaps to fill in.

How… _exciting_.

Approaching the front of the house, he noted the younger human children playing with child monsters in houses beside his. Neighbours, yet another new concept to live with. And so many of them, too. They appeared to be living in harmony with one another.

This new world was extraordinary at the minimum, but he could certainly get used to this.

Satisfied, he closed the skelebros front door. Although he kept any thought that even suggested a subtle sign of emotion to himself, he couldn’t help but be even the _slightest_ bit grateful that he, of all monsters, had been given a second chance to live. Coming back after death with no-one in the world but Sans to remember it.

Who else could possibly do the same?

* * *

_**END** _


End file.
